The Hauntings of Hillhurst 3: All Spells That Ends Well
by newbienovelistRD
Summary: Being a witch in both the magic and mortal world is not easy. So Ashley is pushed to her greatest limits when sinister secrets are revealed and evil forces are emerging.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

_"Hey there, I'm glad you can make it. If you're new here, allow me to fill you in._

_My name is Ashley Deacon. And I'm a witch. I live with a phasm, a mummy, a Frankenstein monster, a werewolf, a ghoul, and a vampire - who's also my boyfriend.  
_

_These monsters saved my life after my ex-boyfriend tried to kill me, then we saved our home from being torn down._

_But that wasn't half as crazy as the time we threw a Halloween party. Fangula, Wolfgang and I were sent to a Halloween world where a rogue vampire and werewolf almost killed us!_

_And if you think that's nuts, it's nothing compared to what happened a year later._

_You see, being a witch, I have powers like you can't even imagine. And if you can, that's great. But have you ever thought there was a reason as to why I'm a witch? _

_Like, a really BIG reason? _

_Apparently, it never even crossed my mind. And that's pretty much what this story is about. Not knowing things. And finding out._

_And this is how it begins..."_

* * *

A young woman walked along a sidewalk in the late evening holding a red rose to her chest. She wore a long beige trench coat and black high heels. Her expression was gentle, yet saddening as she continued her walk.

Finally, she stopped in front of a closed building. The glass doors were locked, below them was a checkered patterned tile floor. Thick layers of dust thinned the windows. In one of the windows was a rent sign, but the girl was in front of another window. On it were three missing person posters. The girl's gaze was transfixed on one certain poster. Her eyes began to water as she held the flower closer to her chest.

Wiping a stray tear from the corner of her eye, The girl put the flower on the ground and did a silent prayer. When she was finished, she looked up at the building's sign,

Zoom Comics

The girl took another long look at the building and walked away with the crisp night breeze blowing in the direction she was leaving.

From the top of the building, a shadowed male figure watched the girl, his eyes flashed red in her direction. He stood up from his place and took a step forward, his eyes focused on the girl. He motioned his body as though he was about to leap off the building, but stopped.

He turned his head like he heard someone calling him, but not a sound was heard. The figure turned back, but the girl was now gone.

The man lowered his head as he jumped off the roof of the building to another. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop with great speed and grace until he disappeared into the night.


	2. Chapter 2: A Night Alone

It was a dark and stormy night, thunder cracked the black sky. Rain poured hard as the strong winds blew. This was the perfect setting for a certain mansion on the outskirts of Charterville.

Within the mansion, also known as the Hillhurst house, strange sounds emitted from a room and echoed through the hallowed halls of the macabre house. The sounds grew and became more intense. It sounded like someone was being tortured.

Inside the room, a pale yet handsome looking vampire in a tuxedo and a high collar cape was sitting in a red velvet chair. His eyes were screwed shut and he gritted his fangs together. He grunted and growled as he jerked around in the chair. His face began to crack, he tried his hardest not to break, but the vampire couldn't take it anymore.

"HAAHAAHAAAAAHAAHAAA! NOHOHOHO ASHLEY! STOHOHOHOHOP!" he wailed with laughter.

"Come on Fang, you need this!" said a young woman with long wavy red hair wearing a green satin nightgown trimmed with black lace and wore a key necklace with a green gemstone around her neck. "Your feet were scarier than the rest of you!" the girl named Ashley said.

She was giving the vampire, Count Fangula, a pedicure. "And they stunk worse than Mums!" she added with a giggle.

Fangula would say something, but he was too busy laughing as Ashley continued scrubbing the soles of his feet. Ashley begged Fangula time and time again to come to the Royal Treatment salon she works at for a pedicure, but the count kept turning her down until he finally gave in. But when Ashley actually saw his feet, she almost passed out. His toenails were about an inch long and they were a red color...but it wasn't nail polish.

If trimming those daggers wasn't a challenge enough, washing away the smell was even worse. If Fangula went in with those feet, people would be disgusted and aware of his monstrous nature. So it was smart of Ashley to do his pedicure at home.

"Are you almost done yet?" Fangula panted, catching his breath.

"Almost." the witch answered. Since Fangula was so ticklish, Ashley had to use a spell to immobilize him, so he couldn't move his arms or legs. She even had to conjure a pair of stocks around his feet and fastened them to the footrest of the chair.

Ashley shook her head. "I can't believe I had to go this far just to make you sit still!" she said drying off his feet.

"I can't help it." Fangula complained. "It tickles too much!"

Ashley smiled, rolling her eyes. "Oh come on, pedicures don't tickle...this tickles!" She began tickling his feet, skittering her fingers all over them.

Fangula yelped before he burst out laughing. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ASHLEHEHEHEHEY! S-STOHOHOP!"

Knowing he's had enough, Ashley stopped. She undid the spells, removing the stocks and allowing the vampire movement again. She walked up to her exhausted boyfriend. "Feeling better?" she asked, kissing his cheek.

Fangula can never stay mad at Ashley. He finally caught his breath and looked down at his clean feet. "Much better actually. In fact, my feet haven't felt this fresh, in centuries!" He wiggled his toes, admiring the effort.

"See? I told ya!"

"You know what would really make this night better?" Fangula turned to Ashley, who smiled.

"What?"

Fangula grabbed Ashley's arms and swung her into his lap like she was made of air. Ashley laughed. "That vampire strength sure comes in handy." She cuddled into the count's arms. The two were in sweet bliss as they were in each other's company, sighing lovingly. It's been over a year since Ashley and Fangula have been dating. So far, they act like they've been dating for several years.

**CRASH!**

A loud noise ruined the moment. Ashley was so startled she fell right out of the Fangula's lap! Fangula got up and helped the red head up. "What's going on?!"

"I don't know, let's find out!"

Ashley and Fangula burst out of the witch's room and listened for the sound again.

**CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!**

Now several loud noises were banging through the house. The couple followed the noise to the staircase and gasped at what they saw. At the bottom of the stairs, Little Ghoul was lying on the ground sitting in the broken remains of what used to be a coffin.

Standing across from the mess was Mums, Wolfgang, and Frankenbeans each holding up a judge scorecard. Each of them read a 10.

"And the crowd goes wild!" Mums cheered. "Extra points for the landing!" he jeered while his fellow monsters laughed. Little Ghoul was too much in pain to make them pay for that remark.

"What is going on here?!" Ashley shouted from upstairs.

Everyone looked up and saw Ashley and Fangula. "We're having a coffin race." Mums said. "What's it look like?"

"Down the stairs?!" Ashley blubbered.

"Of course down the stairs! It's the only fun way to do it!" the mummy said in a way to state the obvious.

"It makes it more challenging too." Little Ghoul piped up as she stood and brushed herself off.

Fangula blinked. "Wait a minute, is that..." he peered closer. When it dawned on him, he shouted, "_MY_ COFFIN?!"

"Well, duh it's your coffin." Little Ghoul scoffed. "It's the only one we could find!"

Fangula jumped from downstairs and landed down hard, shaking the floor. He flashed his fangs in anger and his eyes glowed red so brightly, his whole face was lit red. "That was MY coffin!" he snarled most unpleasantly, the monsters backed away a little from their friend's rage. "I sleep in that! And now it's ruined!" He zoomed up to Little Ghoul and grabbed her by the hood, lifting her off the ground.

"Hey! Put me down ya blood guzzling phantom!" Little Ghoul shot back. She reached for her hood to scare Fangula with her ghoulish face until a zipper materialized around the hood.

"Hey! What the-?!" Little Ghoul's hood was zipped all the way up, stopping her from revealing her face. Fangula let go of the ghoul and dropped her to the ground.

"You have no right to talk, Little Ghoul!" Ashley said coming down the stairs. "You can't just take Fangula's coffin for racing and then crash it like it was no big deal!"

"And my coffin is one of a kind!" Fangula snapped. "It was a family heirloom!"

"Pfft! Big deal Fang, I've got tons of family heirlooms that are ten times older than you!" Mums said.

"Just listen to yourselves!" Ashley said in anger. "How could you guys say such things?! And to your own friend?!"

Mums crossed his arms and huffed. "Well, we wanted to have some real fun since Mr. Lovebat over here was too busy with his pedicure!"

"Yeah! I could hear him cackling all the way from the basement!" Little Ghoul added.

"What's with all the noise?!" a voice came from nowhere. Flabber appeared in the room in his nightshirt and cap holding a lit candle. "Great balls of Flabber! Just look at this mess!"

"Calm down Flabber," Mums said. "All Ashley has to do is point and zap-."

"Oh no! I'm not doing anything!" Ashley said firmly. "You guys are!"

"WHAT?!" the monsters exclaimed.

"You heard me. This is _your_ mess. So y_ou_ clean it up!"

"Aw, come on!" Little Ghoul whined through her zipped hood. "Give us a break! We were just having some fun!"

"It's a little late to beg for mercy, don't you think?" Flabber said.

"That's right." agreed Fangula. "If you don't want to clean up after yourselves, then you shouldn't of made a mess of things in the first place!"

Those words alone made Mums exasperated. "It's like I don't even know you anymore!"

"Enough! You guys clean up this mess while we head upstairs!" Ashley said as she and Fangula went upstairs.

"AHEM! Forgetting something?!" Little Ghoul screamed.

The zipper disappeared from Little Ghoul's hood in green sparkles. "You're welcome!" Ashley called from upstairs.

"Where does that Ashley get off pushing us around?" Mums sneered.

Little Ghoul pounded a scaly fist into her hand "I'm gonna mash her up just like this!"

Suddenly brooms and dustpans appeared in the monsters' hands. "Sure, AFTER you clean up your mess! Sweep up all this wood and gather in this bin so I can fix Fang's coffin tomorrow" Flabber ordered. With that said, he headed upstairs as well.

Whining, the monsters began cleaning up the broken coffin and adjusting the broken railing as well.

Upstairs, Fangula was still upset about his coffin. "Where am I gonna sleep now?" he said sadly.

Ashley sighed. "Well, until Flabber fixes your coffin, can't you just sleep upside down in a closet somewhere?"

Fangula shook his head. "Nope, there's not enough room in any of them anymore. Most of them are filled with the other monsters' old junk."

Ashley though and though until she had an idea, an idea that made butterflies erupt in her tummy and face turned a rosy color.

Fangula noticed the change in Ashley's face color and asked, "Is there a problem?"

Ashley looked back at him surprised. She struggled to say the right thing. "Uh, well um, maybe, I was thinking if, you want a place to sleep..." Her face felt like it was on fire.

"Yeeeees?" Fangula said impatiently.

"...you can, sleep with me." Ashley said.

The vampire shook his head like clearing water of out his ears. Did he really hear what he heard?"

Now Ashley was completely flustered. "I-I mean, not like, _sleep _sleep with me!" she sputtered. "But in my room with me! N-No! I mean, a place in my room! Y-Yeah! That's it! I'll clean out my closet for you to sleep in! How's that sound?!" she laughed like a mindless idiot out of sheer embarrassment.

Fangula just stood there. He definitely heard was he heard. But he did need a place to sleep and Ashley did kindly offer the invitation, so how could he refuse?

"A-Alright Ashley, I'd love to sleep with you..." he said in all honesty. He blinked. "Uh, I mean, sleep in your room! Not _with _you!" he smiled sheepishly and chuckled.

The couple awkwardly stepped into Ashley's room. A dead silence filled the room as the two stood together. Ashley gulped, she went over to her closet. It was filled with clothes, spell books, and a small cauldron rimmed with dried purple ooze. Ashley pointed and zapped, all her things were crammed into her dresser, her spell books perfectly shelved and the cauldron was placed on her her vanity.

"So Fang," the redhead coughed. "I hope it's comfortable."

"Oh, it's fine." he responded. The vampire gazed upon the dank, empty closet. He took off his shoes and pulled out his black sequin nightcap from his jacket pocket and put it on. He stepped inside the closet and did a back flip and stretched his legs out when they reached the top of the closet. And just like that, he was hanging upside down from the closet.

For a few seconds.

Fangula fell down with a loud thud. Ashley gasped as she came to her boyfriend's aid. "What happened?!"

Fangula let out a groan as he got up. "I think..." he looked at his feet. "since you trimmed my toenails, I can't properly hang out in the closet."

Ashley blinked in surprise. She face palmed, feeling very stupid right now. "Great," she mumbled. "I guess you'll just have to sleep-" she paused in mid-sentence.

In all this past year of them dating, the couple never actually _slept_ in the same room together. Now they have to sleep in the same bed?! To Ashley, sleeping with your boyfriend was a huge elevation in a relationship. But she's not ready to take it that far, not yet at least.

They looked at each other again. If Fangula had a temperature, he would be boiling hot. "I-I don't know...I've never slept in a bed before."

Ashley cocked her head forward. "Wait a minute, you've _never _slept in a bed?! Not even once?!" Fangula shook his head.

Now Ashley wasn't nervous anymore. "You don't know what you're missing!" Ashley said. She took Fangula by the arm and showed him over to her bed. "Here, just lay in it and see how it feels."

Eyeing the neat, red velvet covers of the ancient bed make Fangula feel so awkward.

Ashley smiled reassuringly "It's okay Fang, just hop on and relax." Fangula shuddered harshly, but nodded obediently. He sat on the bed, resting his legs towards the end and gently resting his head on the soft pillow. He looked up and saw the ceiling, not his coffin lid.

"How is it?" asked Ashley.

Fangula didn't answer. He just kept staring at the ceiling. The bed was comfortable, much more than his coffin. But a sparkle of fear was in his eye. "I-It's very nice."

But Ashley can sense his fear. "Just close your eyes and take deep breathes. Imagine yourself in your coffin." The count nodded, closing his eyes and folding his arms over his chest like he was about to rest in peace, trying to avert his troubled mind from his current situation. He felt his muscles relax.

It only lasted until he felt something jump into bed next to him. His eyes shot open and looked to his right, seeing Ashley getting under the covers. The vampire looked at the witch with an expression that screamed the question, 'Why!?'

Ashley smiled. "See? This isn't so bad, is it?"

Fangula didn't answer.

Ashley gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight." She snuggled into the covers and closed her eyes.

Fangula just looked over at Ashley with a panicked look. Was this really happening? Sleeping in a bed with a _woman? _He tried to control his harsh trembles, so not to wake Ashley up. He closed his eyes, took deep breath after deep breath, and imagined he was in his coffin.

But it was no use. He just can't sleep. He just stared at the ceiling until his eyes started to get heavy. The sound of Ashley's peaceful breathing finally lulled Fangula to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Family Matters

_A full moon glowed in the night sky over a dark, decaying cemetery, a wolf howled off in the distance. Black dress shoes walked through the foggy grounds. It was Count Fangula with a little smile on his face as he walked to a woman sitting on a stone bench. She was wearing a magnificent white gown woven in the pattern of spider webs with her face hidden behind a white veil._

_Fangula approached the woman. He lifted off her veil and saw Ashley's gorgeous face smiling back. The vampire's chest swelled as he was taking in his love's ravishing beauty. He took a deep breath, slowly got down on one knee, reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small coffin-shaped box. He opened it and inside was a beautiful diamond ring._

_He took out the ring and slid it onto Ashley's hand. He stood up and embraced Ashley with an ever so passionate kiss._

_When Fangula pulled away, the next thing he saw made him scream._

_Ashley's face was longer there, instead was the face of a pale cackling woman with a rat's nest of tangled brown hair that was piled on the top of her head. She reached out to the vampire, about to grab him._

Fangula woke up in cold sweat, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Immediately Ashley came rushing into the room, albeit a little woozy from just getting out of bed. "Huh?! What?! What happened?! What's going on?!"

Fangula continued to scream despite Ashley's entrance, like he didn't even notice her come in. "Fang! Fang! Calm down! It's me! Ashley!" She tried to calm the hysterical vampire down who stopped his shrieking once she spoke but was quivering with shaky breathes as Ashley knelt by his bedside. "Fang, you just had a bad dream. Everything's okay."

Once his breathes eased down, He put a hand to his head. "What a nightmare..." he moaned.

Ashley kissed his forehead. "Relax, nightmares can't hurt you, they can only make you hurt yourself." she got up and went to the door. "While I'm in the shower you head to the breakfast table before the others beat you to it."

Relieved that is was only a dream, Fangula was still shaky from that nightmare. The woman's face he saw would torment his mind for a week...

Everyone was in the dining room enjoying some warm scream of wheat with bat milk. Among all of them eating, the one shoveling down the most was Ashley. She was now used to monster food. She's been eating deep fried bat wing burgers, stuffed iguana, and roasted vulture. But her personal favorite was Flabber's cobweb and jelly sandwiches.

The table was quiet. As everyone ate, there wasn't much excitement going on. Making it a pretty dull breakfast.

Everyone jumped as Ashley's phone rang. With a sheepish smile, Ashley pulled out her phone to answer. "Hello?"

"Hey Ashley! It's Dawn!" Ashley friend said on the other end.

"Dawn! What's going on?" Ashley said, excited. She can always count on her human friends to liven things up.

"Hillary and I are going out later today. You and Biff wanna come?"

"Absolutely!"

But Flabber cleared his throat. Ashley looked over to him. He was giving her a look. A look that said, 'Aren't you forgetting something?'

Then it dawned on Ashley. "Ohhhh..."

"Ashley?" said Dawn. "What's wrong?"

"Uh, actually Dawn. I have to take care of a few things at home first. Then I'll catch up with you guys okay?"

"Okay, let me know when you're done." Dawn replied

"Gotcha, bye." With that, Ashley pushed the red button and shut off the phone. "Okay, I'll practice my magic first then I'll go out." she said to Flabber.

* * *

Eerie sounds rung in the chilly, damp basement. Ashley was in her witch costume stirring a bubbling green potion in a black cauldron. As she stirred, Ashley gazed intently into the concoction, trying her best not to inhale too much of it's noxious fumes.

Ashley heard a click and the eerie sounds stopped. "Are the sound effects really necessary?"

Ashley looked over her shoulder and saw her mother Irene. "Mom?! What are you doing here? I didn't hear you come in!"

Irene raised a brow and crossed her arms. "You would have heard me if you didn't have this thing blaring so loud." she said pointing to the boom box next to her on a table.

Ashley was flustered. "Mom! Spooky sounds inspire potion making!" she replied.

"If you want to be inspired, tell me why you've been ignoring my calls!" Irene said. "I've been trying to call you all day! I was really worried about you!"

"I'm sorry Mom. I was busy practicing my magic. I didn't want any distractions so, I just left my phone upstairs in my room." Ashley answered.

Irene opened her mouth to speak, but coughed when she got a whiff of Ashley's potion. "At least tell me you're done." she said holding her nose.

Ashley looked over the pot. "Hmm...a few more minutes and it'll be ready" she said. "And after that, I have broomstick riding lessons, scary dust practice, and I have to wash the dishes."

Irene heaved a sigh. "So you're stuck with witch work _and _mortal chores?! You're just one girl! I don't see other daughters doing this stuff!"

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Other daughters aren't witches like me!"

"Ashley, I'm starting to get the feeling that you don't want to be around humans anymore! You rarely visit me, let alone call me, you hardly have any human friends, and you don't even have a real job!"

"Mom, I don't need a real job." Ashley protested. "I only work at the salon to pay my phone bill and that's all. I have everything else I need right here at Hillhurst."

"That's just it!" said Irene. "You're a prisoner in your own home!"

Now Ashley was getting annoyed. "Mom, get over it. You always say that everybody has different responsibilities in life." she gestured to the boiling option. "And what I'm learning here is very important!" she took out a bucket of bluish green slime and poured it into the pot."

"Like bringing green slop to a boil is really gonna matter in the grand scheme of life?" Irene incredulously asked.

"Um, that's Zombie slop." Ashley corrected.

"Whatever. All I know is that you're life is just, just..." Irene was looking for the right word.

"Not normal?" said Ashley.

"Exactly!"

Suddenly, the potion started to bubble like crazy. Ashley took a few steps back "Uh-oh..." She tackled to her mother to the ground. "HIT THE DECK!"

**BOOOOOOOOM!**

When the explosion died down, Ashley undid the magic shield she cast over her and her mother. Ashley looked around the room. Warm, goopy green slime was splattered all over the walls and ceiling.

"Well, there goes another dinner." Ashley said with a sigh.

Irene looked at Ashley. "_That_ was dinner?!"

"Yep, I guess we'll just have to order pizza again."

**PLOP! **A glob of green goo landed right at the top of Irene's head. "YUUUUCK!" she wretched.

Ashley snapped her fingers and a white towel appeared. The towel zoomed all over Irene's head getting the slime off. Irene tried to grab the towel but it dodged her with ease.

Once the slime was wiped away, Ashley snapped her fingers and the towel vanished. "I hate to break it to you Mom, but for me, this is normal."

Irene took a deep breath to compose herself, "Ashley, there's something you should know..."

* * *

In Fangula's room, the count was picking out an outfit to wear for when Ashley and him go out to see Dawn and Hillary. It looked like he was having trouble. Pretty much, his entire wardrobe was stylish...if this was Transylvania in the 1900's. If he was going to hang out with humans, he had to dress as humanly as possible.

Sighing, he thought to himself maybe Ashley can conjure up something more modern for him. He went downstairs to the parlor to find her, when he did, he saw Ashley sitting on the couch with her head hung low.

The vampire approached Ashley. "Room for one more?" Ashley scooted to make room.

"Alright, what happened?" he asked taking his seat.

Ashley looked away. "It's my mom..."

"Did she barg in unannounced again?"

Ashley gave a nod. "Yeah, but that's not it." Then she got quiet.

Fangula stared at her. "If I don't ask why, you're going to tell me anyway, aren't you?"

Ashley turned to face her boyfriend. "It's just..." but she turned away again.

Knowing this was more serious than he thought, Fangula put a hand to Ashley's chin to make her face him. "What is it, Ashley?"

"Well, its just..." Ashley started. "my mom is running for mayor."

Fangula cocked his head back. "What? Why?"

"All she told me was that she's campaigning to be mayor and that's it!" Ashley said in a very upset voice. "How could she do this?!"

"Whoa! Slow down, Ashley! Why's that a bad thing?" the vampire asked.

"Because my mom does real estate! She doesn't know anything about politics! Why would she do this all of a sudden?!" Ashley rubbed her temple in annoyance. "It doesn't make sense..."

"Well, maybe you'll feel better about it after a day out." Fangula suggested. "How's that sound?"

"Why not?" Ashley sighed.


	4. Chapter 4: Smear Campaign

With her chores complete, Ashley was finally ready to go out with Dawn and Hillary. Ashley got out of her witch outfit and into a pale blue t-shirt, black jean shorts, white sneakers and her handy dandy magic fanny pack. She conjured up a more modern ensemble for Fangula, a black vest over a red short sleeve button down with black and red striped pants with a bat belt buckle and black and red sneakers. All finished with his black sunglasses.

"Okay guys, we're leaving!" Ashley called out. "And don't order any take out and scare away the delivery boy again!"

But suddenly Mums popped up through the floor. "Hold on Ashley! I want to come with you!"

"You want to come?" questioned Fangula. "Why's that?"

Ashley narrowed her brow. "I have a pretty good idea..."

"No need to tell, just keep it to yourself!" Mums insisted.

Ashley crossed her arms. "He just wants to get close to Dawn."

"No I don't! I just wanted to hang with you guys! That's all!" said Mums.

Ashley raised her hand and turned her back on the mummy. "Forget it, Rags, Dawn is off limits to the undead. Come on Fang. Let's go."

The couple were just about to head out the door when Broomy swept in the way. Ashley heaved out a sigh. Broomy was more persistent than Mums. "Alright Broomy, you can go." Ashley pointed and zapped Broomy, changing him into a purple scooter. Ever since she got Broomy, Ashley would disguise him and use him to get around. Besides, Broomy loved to be used anyway.

* * *

Ashley and Fangula made it over to Bob's Burger Place. It was a take on those restaurants from the 50's with waitresses on roller blades, painted in white and bright blue and a red neon sign hanging right on top of it. Not exactly a California hotspot, but in a small town like Charterville, it was. Especially on a warm summer day like this.

Fangula stared at the place. "I'm not so sure about this..."

Ashley gave him a nudge. "Relax, I'll make you some blood pudding later, just order a water or something."

"Alright," the count said. "as long as it's not holy or anything."

That's when Ashley spotted her human besties. "Hey guys!"

"Ashley!" the two girls said in unison. Dawn had her beautiful blonde hair in bouncy curls wearing a sleeveless floral tiered dress with white sandals. Hillary still maintained her preppy fashion. A short sleeved gray tie neck blouse with a short black skirt, white knee socks and black Mary Jane shoes and her hair was down as always today.

Everyone took a table outside the restaurant and enjoy the beautiful sunny day. Luckily for Fangula, their table was shaded with a big enough umbrella to protect him from the sun. While Ashley was getting the food, Fangula sat with the two human girls. He tried his best not to be nervous in front of them.

"So Biff, how've you two been?" Hillary asked 'Biff'. "Anything interesting?"

Fangula smiled sweetly. "Oh, not much. We're doing fine." the vampire answered. No way he would mention about last night to Ashley's friends.

Hillary shook her head and blinked twice. She took off her glasses and cleaned out the lenses, she put them back on her face and took a good look at Fangula through her lenses.

"What's wrong, Hill?" Dawn asked.

"Uh, nothing." Hillary said, unsure.

"Here's the food!" Ashley said in a singsong voice. She took her seat and everyone dug into their food.

"So, what's going on with you, ladies?" Fangula asked.

"Actually, I have exciting news!" Dawn said. "My cousin Heather is coming into town and we're gonna rent a cabin to stay for the weekend! And I was wondering if you guys wanted to come."

"Sure, Dawn! We'd love to come!" Ashley said with glee. "You in, Fang?"

"Uh, sure. Why not?"

"Great!" Dawn chirped. "We head for the hills Friday morning!"

"So anyway, I heard your mom's running for mayor, Ash." Hillary said after taking a bite of her burger.

Ashley frowned. "Fanks for weminding me." she said with a mouthful of french fries. She swallowed them down to talk better. "Don't get me wrong guys, my mom means well, but she doesn't have to go this far to make something of herself. I'm happy for what she is now - a real estate agent."

"That's understandable, Ash." said Hillary. "But it's your mother's choice. Besides, this town could use better leadership."

"I agree. I totally agree." Dawn responded.

Fangula looked confused. "Why's that?"

"Because Mr. Chambers has been mayor for three years." Hillary answered before Ashley did. "He may have wealth and power, but that doesn't mean he has a heart for the community. From what I hear, the locals are happy to see him go."

"Finally." Dawn added. She looked over her shoulder thinking she heard something, then did a double take and pointed at something. "Guys, look!"

Everyone looked in Dawn's pointing direction. They saw a black limo pull up on the side of the road. On top of the limo were huge speaker megaphones facing all directions. On the side of the vehicle was a white banner that said, 'VOTE FOR ANYONE BUT DEACON' in black letters.

"Vote for anyone but Deacon?!" Ashley shouted as she stood up. "What's up with that?!"

Hillary looked at her friend skeptically. "You have to ask?"

"Don't forget to vote for anyone but Deacon." a voice blared through the speakers. "ANYONE but Deacon."

The chauffeur came out of the limo and opened the door for his passenger, who was none other than Britney Chambers. With a purple embellished hip dress and red high heel sandals on and holding a wireless microphone. She tossed the microphone aside for her chauffeur to catch it.

She walked up to Ashley, who, at the moment, was mad as a bull seeing red.

Britney looked at Fangula and smiled. "Hi, Biff." she said in an attempt to flirt. Fangula just shot a glare at the debutante.

She looked at Ashley and waved her hand. "Hello, cluster of neighborhood urchins."

"Britney," Ashley said angrily. "how could you be such a jerk?!"

Britney shrugged. "It's a gift."

"So Daddy's making you do his dirty work?" Dawn sneered.

Britney's lips curved in her evil way. "Actually, my father is vacationing in Hawaii at the moment, which is preventing him from running. But that doesn't mean _my_ mother can't run for mayor."

"Your mother is running for mayor?!" sputtered Ashley.

"Of course, my family's been running this town three years running and I'm not going to break a Chambers family tradition. If my father can't be mayor, I certainly don't want the woman who gave birth to you be the leader of my town. And my mother needs all the support she can get to win the election, thus my little public service announcements."

Ashley was exasperated. Just when Ashley thought Britney couldn't stoop any lower. "Here's a special announcement: You better step off!" the redhead scolded Britney. "It's none of your business, so stay out it. Unless you want my knuckles for lunch!"

Britney got close to Ashley's face. She was so close Ashley could smell expensive perfume dancing around her. "When it comes to you Deacon, I make it my business."

Fangula and the girls watched the two rivals square off. Things were getting more intense with every second passing by. They thought any short time now, this was going to get ugly. Very ugly.

Britney let out a yelp as she was grabbed from behind and spun around. She was facing a handsome man with tan skin, short wavy brown hair and wore a white tank top and a pair of old jeans. His blue eyes were glaring straight through Britney's soul (if she had one).

Her heart sank when she saw the tallest man she ever saw, wearing a brown shirt and black pants and had a solemn complexion, and held a leash that was holding back a gray wolf-like dog snarling ferociously at Britney. A growl escaped the giant man's mouth.

Ashley went as pale as Fangula. She knew right away that was Mums, Frankenbeans, and Wolfie in disguise. Somehow, they looked perfectly normal, with all of their bandages, scars, and monstrous features hidden.

"Why don't you take a hike before we get mad?" the mummy in disguise warned, giving Britney a little shove.

"Whatever, I'm outta this freak show." Britney scoffed, getting the last word in.

But Ashley was about to have the last laugh. She spotted a rolling waitress carrying two full trays of food. With a point of the witch's finger, the waitress started rolling out of control - and heading straight for Britney.

**BAM! **

Britney and the waitress collided into each other. The trays of food splattered all over Britney, drenching her in fries, milkshakes, ketchup and mustard. Everyone all laughed as Britney screamed in utter humiliation. She ran away with her ego in pieces.

Fangula was bucking in his chair laughing. "Oh man! That was priceless! She's gonna be washing those stains out til' next year!"

He looked over at Ashley, who wasn't laughing at all, or even smiling! She marched over to Mums and grabbed him by his shirt collar. "What do you think you're doing here?!" she hissed in his ear. "You were suppose to stay home! And why do you guys look so normal?!"

Mums frowned, then pulled up to Ashley's ear. "First, we didn't want you and Fang to have all the fun to yourself! Second, it's no big, Flabber and Little Ghoul are watching over Hillhurst! And third, we borrowed Flabber's phasm book and just said the magic words!"

Ashley gave him a look. "Borrowed?"

"Okay! So maybe we borrowed without permission. But it doesn't matter, no one's gonna know!"

"Hey Ashley! What's with all the whispering?" Dawn called out, interrupting the two.

Ashley spun around, struggling to think of a nice cover. "Uh, this is, uh-"

But Mums strode up to Dawn and took her by the hand. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, I'm Niles Armon." he gracefully kissed the blonde's hand. Dawn blushed badly.

"This is my friend Frank and his dog Wolfie." the mummy now under the alias 'Niles' introduced. "We're friends of Biff's, from out of town."

"Nice to meet you," Hillary said. "want to have lunch with us?"

Before Ashley could say no, her uninvited guests already took their seats. Ashley was really annoyed now. And she wasn't the only one, Fangula felt the very same. They slumped in their chairs as they watched 'Niles' getting all chatty and chummy with Dawn while Frankie and Wolfie were scarfing down what's left of Ashley's lunch.

"It's getting kind of crowded here..." Fangula said.

"You said it." agreed Ashley.

"So, you guys wanna come with us to the Night Light later?" Dawn asked Mums.

This time Ashley spoke before anyone else. "No, they can't!" she exclaimed. "They have to go home tonight. Right guys?" she gave the three monsters a warning look.

Everyone looked at Ashley surprised. "But why, Ash?" asked Dawn.

"Yeah Ash." said Mums. "We promise to be on our best behavior." he said all too sweetly.

But Ashley wasn't buying it. That is, until Fangula put a hand on the witch's shoulder. "I think it's okay Ashley," he said. "I'm sure we can all have fun together."

Ashley looked back at her friends. "We don't mind the company, Ash." Dawn implied. "Biff's right, we'll have lots of fun together."

Ashley really had a bad feeling about this, but she really didn't want to be a party pooper, no one likes a party pooper. After a deep breath, "Alright, we'll all go together."

"WHOO-HOOO!" her monster friends cheered. Dawn and Hillary giggled at the pumped up pals.

"Gentlemen, tonight we party like MONSTERS!" Mums cried out.

Now that made Ashley's feeling worse. "Uh, I'll be in the girl's room, be right back."

Ashley rushed to the restroom and checked the stalls to see if anyone else was there, they were all empty. Ashley went into the first empty stall, reached into her fanny pack, and took out her crystal ball. She wasn't going to wait for a vision to come to her, she had to see the future now while she had the chance. Ashley waved her hand over the ball, foggy mist swirled inside it as Ashley recited,

_"Show me the future yet to be._

_Will tonight be a catastrophe?"_

The swirling fog created a cloud. Inside it, Ashley saw a woman with two men, then a pair of two headlights and the screeching sound of tires, followed by a huge explosion. Before Ashley could see more, the vision ended and the crystal was back to being clear.

Ashley just stood there. She had a pretty good idea that woman was her. Now she's even more afraid than she was before. Tonight was going to be a catastrophe alright, she had to stay on her guard tonight.


	5. Chapter 5: Evening Brew

As the day became night, everyone arrived at the Night Light. As always, it was alive with thumping music and happy-go-lucky adolescents looking for a really good time.

"We've arrived, gentleman!" Dawn said as she pulled in her teal Malibu on the side of the road. She was driving with Hillary in front and Mums and Frankie along with Wolfie in the back.

Ashley and Fangula pulled up behind Dawn. The vampire noticed his girlfriend in some sort of daze. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Huh?" said Ashley, distracted by her vision.

"Are you okay?" Fangula repeated.

"Yeah, I'm fine." answered Ashley.

Fangula frowned. "No, you're not."

"No I'm not!" Ashley shot back. "I mean, yes I am!"

"So you're not okay?"

"No I'm not okay, I mean, I'm, I'm, UGGH!"

"Ash, I can tell when you're not okay and right now you're not, what happened?"

Ashley huffed and turned away.

"Come on now," Fangula said. "don't make me hypnotize it out of you."

Ashley glanced back and her boyfriend. "Fang, you don't have the guts to-"

That's when Fangula's eyes went from silver to shining gold. Ashley gasped, she felt dizzy as she stared into the haunting glow of the vampire's gaze. Then Fangula snapped his fingers in front of Ashley's face. She shook her head, startled and confused. "Huh?! What?!"

Fangula smiled and proudly folded his arms. "You were saying?"

"D-Did you just-?!" Ashley said taking a step back.

"Yes indeedy." the vampire said with a smile made of pride.

"B-But how did-?! When did you-?!" The witch gasped and paused. "...you didn't make me act like a chicken did you?"

"As good as that sounds, I just gave my power a little test run that's all, I think I did alright."

Ashley rubbed her head. "Man, that felt weird..." Ashley never thought she'd see the day when Fang can master hypnosis, she was hypnotized by him before, but that was during a life threatening situation and to cure her insomnia.

This time, it felt like the exact way she experienced it before. The count's got hypnosis down pat!

"Come on guys!" Dawn called for the couple. "What're you standing around for?"

Ashley would have to get back on Fangula's new power later, right now it was party time! But when the group came to the entrance, they saw a big, burly security guard letting few people in and most people out!

"Since when did they have security on the outside?" Hillary thought out loud.

"Must be for checking the age limit or something." Dawn replied.

"At least the line is getting shorter!" Mums said. "Let's go!"

The party goers got in line. They were almost there. Ashley was still worried about tonight, but her current concern was that security guard. She leaned in and whispered something in Count Fangula's ear. With a nod, the vampire moved in to the front of the group so he was about to be next in line.

Behind the group, a brunette in a flannel dress and combat boots and a girl with dreadlocks were examining Hillary. Flannel tapped Hillary on the shoulder. "Hey, Poindexter, this isn't book club."

"Excuse me?" Hillary asked, confused.

"You think they gonna let _you _in?" asked Dreadlocks.

"Didn't I see you in Superstar?"

"Or Revenge of the Nerds?"

The girls burst out laughing together. Hillary was stunned into silence.

Shock overshadowed Ashley's worries. And she wasn't the only one, Dawn went up into the bullies' space. She put her hands on her hip and-

"Make a way, Barbie." Flannel spat.

"Shouldn't you be on a parade float?" Dreadlocks said. "Or a birthday cake?"

Dawn's bright blue eyes snapped open. "At least I actually look good!" Dealing with her first experience with criticism, she reached into her beaded clutch and took out a business card and flicked it toward the girls. "If you ever win the lottery, give me a call at the Royal Treatment Salon. We love a challenge."

Hillary and the monsters couldn't help but laugh at the girls' shocked faces.

While they were distracted, Ashley shoved Fangula forward in front of the bouncer.

"IDs' please." the bouncer bellowed.

Fangula took a deep breath, he looked deep into the man's black eyes. As the vampire's eyes flashed gold he said, "You do not need to see our identifications. All six of us are 21 and our dog is allowed inside."

Then Ashley whispered something in Fangula's ear again. "And the two girls behind us are not." he finished.

The man blinked his eyes, that means it was working. He kindly ushered Fangula, Ashley, and all their friends inside.

"Didn't that guy need to see out IDs'?" Hillary asked Ashley.

"No need, Biff slipped the guy a fifty and let us in." the witch fibbed.

"Man, everybody's stepping it up tonight!" Mums said excited. And he was right, sort of. The musty air smelt like burnt popcorn and cigarettes. People were moving to the DJ's beat all over the sticky, glittered floor. The multicolored lights shined and whizzed through the air. It was still the same as Ashley, Fangula, and Mums remembered it the last time they were there.

And that didn't mean they weren't going to be bored.

Then the song Blurred lines by Robin Thicke came through the speakers with a full burst, and in a split second, the monsters and humans got their party on! Everyone started dancing, bouncing, wiggling, and shaking to the song. Ashley and Fangula were dancing up a storm against each other, Mums and Dawn were trying their best to outdo the couple while Frankie and Wolfie were chowing down at the snack bar. Songs melted into another, and the fun showed no signs of stopping.

Then the music hit a pause and the DJ grabbed the mic. "Yo, yo! This is Spin Docta C! So listen to me! The Night Light is gonna kick things off with a freestyle contest in the next hour! So if you think you got the rhymes to rap, then sign ups are open! Come on down!"

A delighted scream filled the air, but very few went up to sign up, From the club's bar, Ashley and Fangula watched on. "Can you believe such a contest?" the vamp dryly stated, sipping his Bloody Mary, despite not being actual blood, even he had to admit it wasn't bad.

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, totes. I'll just stick with magic rhymes, no way I can dish them out on the spot."

That's when Dawn went up and took her seat next to Ashley and ordered a martini, dry.

"Have you seen Mums?" Ashley idly asked Dawn.

Dawn turned to her friend, confused. "Who?"

Ashley's eyes widened and felt a pound in her chest. "I mean, Niles. You seen him?"

"He's signing up for that rapping thing." Dawn said, nonchalantly sipping her drink.

Although relived she didn't arouse any suspicion, Ashley was now worried. "He's entering?!"

Fangula's eyes rolled as he heaved out a sigh. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me..."

And somehow, that didn't surprise Ashley either. She remembers when she would even be in the chamber beneath her bedroom practicing spells, he could still hear Mums' practicing his freestyle with the music full blast from the parlor or his room. It would drive Ashley and the others nuts to no end.

In spite of her worry, Ashley just shrugged it off. "This ought be good."

As everyone waited on in anticipation of the contest, Ashley noticed it was starting to get a bit stuffy in here. She decided to go out and get some air. She went through the back exit and took a nice deep breath followed by a stretch. "Nothing like a little fresh air."

"Indeed."

Ashley jumped a few feet away, even if she knew that voice belonged to Fangula. The vampire chuckled to himself. "Looks like I still got it."

Ashley was too busy holding her chest checking her heartbeat to reply.

"So while we're out here, care to tell me what's bothering you?"

Heaving a sigh, Ashley said warily, "Well, before we came, I looked into the crystal ball, just in case..."

Fangula blinked in surprise. "And you saw something bad?!"

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, but I didn't get much of it though. All I got was a few people, an oncoming car..." She paused. "and one, big, boom."

Fangula's eyes shot up. He didn't like the way his girlfriend said one, big, boom. "Are you sure?"

"My visions are never wrong...at least not yet." Ashley really felt nervous, if only that vision came out better.

Miffed, she picked up a rock off the ground and threw it at a dumpster and hung her head low. But soon, she looked up when she heard something else hit the dumpster, then she looked over her shoulder.

"Room for one more?" Fangula said smiling, tossing a rock in his hand.

Finally feeling at ease again, thanks to her boyfriend, Ashley warmed up a smile. "Always."

So, the romantic couple spent their blissful evening...throwing rocks at a dumpster. It may not have been as glamorous as a night club, but it was just as fun, maybe more!

What made it like that, was the fact that Ashley and Fangula threw rocks at a dumpster...together. As they were throwing, they would crack a joke or two, tell each other stories, or imagine the dumpster was Britney's face. It was like they were on a first date.

"Um, Ashley?" asked Fangula.

"Yeah?"

The vampire dug his toe in the ground and shyly looked away. Noticing her boyfriend's behavior, Ashley just smiled. He's not very good at romantic moments, she tickled his neck a little. With a giggle, he turned to her with a friendly smile.

"What is it?" she asked Fangula.

"Well, it's just, when I first saw you, I-" He was about to continue when his sharp hearing caught something. He grabbed Ashley and jumped high in the air.

Amongst the sudden surprise, Ashley heard the screeching sound of tires below her. She and the count land on the rooftop of the club with ease.

"What...just happened?!" Ashley panted in shaky breathes.

"Someone almost flattened us. _That's_ what just happened." Fangula stated. Ashley was about to say something.

"Shhh!" Fangula said to the witch, putting a finger to his lips. He leaned closer to the edge and listened. He overheard two car doors slammed shut and two familiar voices.

"What the?! Where'd they go?!"

"Yo! That fool just grabbed her and flew away! Like he was Superman or somethin'!"

"I can't believe this!" Fangula said, he didn't know who those girls think they are, but he was going to give them a piece of his mind.

"What is it?"

"It's those girls from before! They tried to run us over!"

Ashley saw the vampire's eyes flash red with rage.

Ashley grabbed him by the arm. "It's okay." she whispered, "Just ignore them. Those girls aren't worth the trouble. Let's just get back inside once they're gone and-"

"AAAAAAH!"

Ashley stopped and looked over the edge. She saw Dawn being held by Dreadlocks while Flannel stood in front of them.

Ashley's blood ran cold when the girl pulled out a seven inch knife. Dawn tried to scream again, but Dreadlocks covered her mouth with her other hand. Her grip on Dawn's hands and her mouth were strong as a bear trap.

Ashley didn't have a moment to loose, She jumped off the rooftop and landed (well, glided) in front off the group of girls. Ashley felt like her heart was on fire as she shot glares through the two women. She was seething, and she wanted them to know it.

"Put the knife down." she warned.

Suddenly, a big, black hand grabbed her shoulder. Ashley looked to her left and saw a strong, towering brotha who completely outsized Ashley. Standing next to him a tall, lanky dude who grabbed Ashley's other shoulder. "Shut your mouth." the Big guy bellowed.

"You tell her, baby!" Dreadlocks sneered.

Suddenly, two black and red high tops landed on top of Dreadlocks' head, hitting her in the head and knocking her out, cold.

At this point, Ashley was cheering. Dawn was free at last and she ran back inside.

Fangula stood up as Dreadlocks' baby, the beanpole, and Flannel looked on in shock.

Brushing himself off, Fangula smiled. "Oops."

The enraged man let go of Ashley and charged at Fangula.

Big mistake.

The vampire jumped forward and bit down on the man's neck, puncturing the jugular vein, causing blood to spray.

"Fang! NO!" Ashley hissed. She didn't want him to go that far, a right hook would have sufficed.

Seeing his friend lay motionless on the ground with blood beginning to pool beneath him, the beanpole just paled and ran.

"Come back here!" Flannel yelled. But he wasn't coming back. Angrier than ever, Flannel turns to Ashley, blade in hand.

Ashley stumbled back in retreat, desperate to avoid a confrontation. "Hold on! Put that down! Put it down! Drop it!"

But all hope of ending this peacefully...is soon lost.

With a scream, the woman raises her knife and charges. Forcing Ashley to raise her palms, and fire.

A green light fills the alley, the blade flies down the pavement with a hard clang.

When the dust clears, the witch is clearly shaken by the aftermath. The attacker was melded to the wall in a burnt crisp, her entire body was charred, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She crumbled off the wall and fell on the ground, completely defeated and in pain.

Fangula ran up to Ashley. "Are you okay?!"

Ashley was too shocked to speak. It's the kind of moment she hopes would never happen. And Ashley did all she could to prevent it.

That's when Dawn came back outside, this time she brought Hillary, the monsters in disguise, and a bouncer with her. When they saw the scene of the alley, the bouncer turned white as a sheet and Dawn stumbled, Hillary looked like she was about to pass out any second.

Finding her voice, Ashley pointed three fingers at the humans and recited,

_"What you think you see, you will forget._

_This is all a dream, so don't wake up yet."_

Green auras glowed around the humans' heads. They both let out a yawn and collapsed soundly asleep.

"Good call." Fangula said.

Ashley gave a thumbs up and smiled. But the moment was short lived as she heard peoples' voices coming their way. "Oh no! We've got to get out of here!"

The monsters knew they didn't have time for an explanation. Ashley waved her hands around, summoning a flurry of green sparkles and whisked herself and the monsters away back to Hillhurst.


	6. Chapter 6: Guy Talk

**Here's an early chapter! Happy Easter, everyone!**

Back at Hillhurst, Ashley and the others materialized in the parlor. The young witch couldn't believe she got out of that in one piece. And just in time too, the phasm spell wore off and and the monsters were themselves again.

That's when Mums spoke up. "So Ashley, what exactly happen-"

But Ashley quickly covered the mummy's mouth. "Shhh! I'll explain in the morning. Right now, let's just head to bed." she whispered.

"Why the rush?" came a voice from behind.

Ashley jumped slightly and turned, and there was Flabber leaning against the parlor entrance with his arms crossed and tapping his foot.

"Oh! Flabber!" Ashley said surprised, taking her hand off Mums' face. "You're up!"

"That's right. So, how was you're night out fellas? Don't forget the part when I just found out someone used my phasm book WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND SNUCK OUT UNDER MY NOSE?!" the phasm said enraged. His face turned into a snorting bull and steam sprayed out of his nostrils.

"Flabber! Flabber, calm down!" Fangula tried to relax his friend. "The monsters just felt left out and wanted to come along. They've stayed out of trouble! Honest!"

"He's right, Flabber!" Ashley said. "We've kept a tight leash on them! They were on their best behavior!"

Flabber changed back to normal and blinked his eyes twice, then narrowed them. "I can't believe that..."

"They're telling the truth, Flabber!" Mums exclaimed. "We're sorry we used your phasm book! It was very wrong and it'll never happen again!"

"Yeah! Promise!" Frankenbeans said as he crossed his heart. Wolfie whimpered apologetically and nodded.

After looking at the monsters for a long time, Flabber sighed, "Alright, very well, I forgive you."

"Thank you Flabber." Mums, Frankenbeans and Wolfie said (and barked) together.

"But if you wanted to look human just to go out, you should have asked." Flabber said grinning.

"WHAT?!" a high pitched voice cracked. Little Ghoul rushed into the parlor. "You're just gonna let them go?! They just took your spell book! They deserve any and every punishment!"

Flabber turned to small monster. "Now Little Ghoul, they did apologize and nothing went wrong tonight. So there's no need for punishment."

"Wait a minute..." Mums said, his voice very suspicious. "Flabber, exactly, _how_ did you know about us taking your book?"

"Why, Little Ghoul told me."

"WHAAAAAT?!" the three angry monsters roared.

Mums grabbed Little Ghoul's arm. "You dirty rat! You spilled the beans to Flabber so you can see us be punished?!" he screamed.

"Little Ghoul! How could you?!" Ashley said, exasperated.

Little Ghoul broke out of the mummy's grip. "Hey! I just wanted to have a little fun!" she replied.

Ashley marched right up to Little Ghoul and pointed an angry finger. "Getting others into trouble for your own sick amusement isn't fun! It's wrong! It's just plain wrong!"

"Don't you point that finger at me sister!" Little Ghoul snapped. "Do you know who I am?!"

"Why?" Ashley said. "Did you forget?"

"Ooooooh..." the monsters said.

"Oh, snap!" Flabber said with a snap of his fingers. They all laughed but Little Ghoul was still pretty mad.

"PIPE DOWN YOU LOSERS!" she hollered.

"NO! YOU PIPE DOWN!" Ashley hollered back.

Little Ghoul growled as she raised her fist up and charged. But her fist was grabbed by Count Fangula. He held the ghoul up to his pale face.

"Don't. Even. Think about it." the vampire hissed in a cold voice. He set her back down, Little Ghoul was too stunned to speak.

Flabber let out a yawn. "Well, now that that's settled..." He spun around and changed into his nightshirt and stocking cap. "let's hit the hay."

"I'm with you." Mums said as he stretched.

"No argument here." Ashley said. They all headed upstairs leaving Little Ghoul all by her lonesome.

* * *

Each of the monsters went into their respective bedrooms, Ashley was the last to enter, but Fangula just stood in the hallway, deeply in thought. He felt a kind hand on his shoulder, he turned and saw Flabber.

"Hey, Count, you okay?" the phasm asked. "I fixed your coffin."

"Flabber," Fangula started. "You know I love Ashley, right?"

"Pssh! Oh Fangy, do you really have to ask?" Flabber laughed.

"But Flabber, tonight, I was going to tell Ashley how much I really love her...but I never got the chance to."

"So tell her tomorrow, I'm sure it can wait." Flabber assured.

Fangula suddenly grabbed Flabber and went into the vampire's room together. "Hold on a sec, Fang! What's going on?!"

"Just calm down, Flabber." the count said as he closed the door. "This is serious." The vampire approached Flabber. "You see, Flabber, I don't want to just tell Ashley I love her, I want to..." He looked away as he struggled to continue.

"What?"

Fangula leaned in and whispered into Flabber's ear.

When he was done, Flabber, suddenly taken aback by what his roommate just said, jumped back and crashed into a wall. After a few seconds stuck, he slid off the wall. He tried to get up as his knees knocked like mad. "FANG! ARE YOU INSANE?! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!-"

Fangula covered Flabber's mouth and shushed him. "Inside voice, if you please." the count reminded him.

"Fang, you can't do that!" Flabber sputtered in a whisper. "I mean, it, it is forbidden! It cannot be done!"

"I know, but I want to be with her...forever."

The vampire was in such a depression. Flabber can feel it just by looking at the undead being. Fangula did love Ashley, but when he told Flabber what he wanted to do with Ashley, he felt afraid for the girl.

"Fang, I know you love Ashley and she feels the same. But maybe, when the time is right, you can...you know."

"I suppose," the vampire said. "but the more I think about it, the more impatient I get..."

The conversation was cut off as the two heard knocking on the door. It opened and it was Ashley. "Guys, I heard shouting. What's going on?"

"Uh, just having a little guy talk." Flabber fibbed, faking a smile.

Ashley raised a brow. "Whatever you say, but keep it down a few notches." She yawned and closed the door.

Sighing in relief, Flabber continued, "Listen, Fangula, you may be ready, but there's a pretty good chance that Ashley isn't."

"I know, but that's what I'm afraid of." Fangula replied. "What if she's never ready? And if she is, how will I know?"

The friendly phasm patted his buddy on the back. "Well, that's an easy one. She'll tell you when she's ready. It'll take some time, no need to rush these things, y'know."

The vampire turned to Flabber with a soft smile, but it began to curve downward. "But still, even if she's ready, it's still forbidden..."

"Like I said, Count, it'll take time." Then Flabber disappeared to his room.

Now Fangula really didn't know what to do. He looked over his shoulder and saw his coffin good as new waiting for him. But it'll be impossible to sleep after all that's happened tonight. As he walked over to his coffin, Ashley was all over his mind. He climbed in and stared at the ceiling.

Remembering Flabber's words, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, eventually falling to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7: Breaking News

The next day, things were all good at the Hillhurst mansion. It's been hectic the other day, so everyone got a good night's sleep.

Deep beneath the house, was a dark and dank chamber. The only lights came from lit torches on the stone walls and a cauldron of glowing green ooze under a roaring fire. Ashley approached the boiling pot, wearing a green sparkling dress with a black cape pinned together with her magic key, a black witch hat, and black bow shoes.

Staring into the cauldron, a wicked smile crept on the witch's face. She sprinkled some gray powder from a salt shaker and a spoonful of yellowish slop with an eyeball in it and added them into her mixture. A loud poof erupted with an odious cloud of stench.

Ashley cackled like a wicked witch should, she waved her hands over the cauldron and recited,

_"Pinch of possum and cream of newt,_

_poisoned spores and rotten fruit._

_And with this Irish clover,_

_may my cauldron runneth over!"_

With the last ingredient in her hand, Ashley tossed it in. The biggest, most foul smelling poof exploded. The witch's brew bubbled like mad. Ashley shuddered with anticipation, her wicked smile growing. She raised her arms and cried out another bone chilling cackle. After a few seconds, the cauldron finally simmered down. Now it was a sparkling, magenta colored brew.

"There! All done." Ashley said, officially snapped out of her witch act. She took out a glass bottle from her pocket and with a ladle, scooped out some of the potion and poured it into the bottle until it was all the way full. With a cork in it, Ashley put the bottle on a shelf with the other potions she's made. It was like each color of the rainbow was in a bottle on one side of the wall while the other side were perfectly shelved spell books.

Sighing in delight, Ashley took it all in, enjoying herself at the progress she's made in the past year. It seemed like only yesterday when she first walked up to Hillhurst as a normal, fraidy cat of a girl and now a bonafide witch! She was getting closer and closer to becoming a full witch! She can feel it in her pointed hat!

Suddenly, Ashley felt some kind of weight on the brim of her hat, pulling it down and blinding her vision. Ashley pulled her hat up. When she did, she gasped in fright and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

It was only a split second before the girl threw off her hat as she stumbled on the floor and cowered beside the opposite side of the bookcase. She cautiously looked over the edge and on the floor was her hat, and a big black bat. Ashley swallowed in fear, but when she saw the bat rolling on the floor laughing a familiar laugh, her fear disappeared and replaced with anger.

"Fang!" Ashley shouted. "You jerk!"

The bat morphed into Count Fangula as he continued laughing. He wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm sorry, Ashley. Old habits are hard to break." he replied while giggling.

Ashley scowled as she got up. "Why don't you flake out in your coffin or something? That's a better habit!"

A mischievous, yet loving look spread across Fangula's face. He walked up to the redhead and embraced her. "But it's not as fun as seeing your gorgeous face alight with fright, queen of my black heart." he purred.

Either it was his sweet talk or the fumes from that potion, but Ashley smiled as she snuggled into her boyfriend's chest. She giggled, "Why can't I stay mad at you, Fang?"

"Cause you love me." he simply answered.

"And I love you a lot..." his girlfriend sighed. Then she leaned in until her lips met his.

* * *

In Ashley's room, the secret hatch in the floor opened and the witch finally emerged after about a half hour of potion making, in her hand was the potion she made. She snapped her fingers and changed into a simple black dress, black shoes, and a green headband in her hair. Following right behind her was Fangula

The couple headed downstairs and toward the parlor. "Hey Flabber!" Ashley called out. "I made that sauce you wanted for tonight's dinner!"

But they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the monsters, who had worried looks on their faces (it was hard to tell for Little Ghoul though). But Flabber's look was far from worried, he had an angry look that Ashley recognized. With that look, if he was a female and dressed like an accountant, he would pass for Ashley's mother.

"What?" asked Ashley.

Flabber didn't say a word. He walked over to an old framed picture on the wall, opened it to reveal a TV hidden behind it! Before Ashley could speak about it, the phasm turned the TV on. It showed a man with glasses and a corduroy jacket who was sitting at a desk reporting the local news.

"Good morning, Charterville. This is Wilbur Burns here at CV Action 10 News with this shocking report. Three victims of separate gruesome and bizarre attacks, two ending up in murder, were found in the back alley of the Night Light, a local night club in downtown Charterville, along with three other people who were found unconscious but otherwise unharmed at the scene of the crime. Fortunately, the three were revived by the police. But, the problem is they seem to have no recollection of what happened that night or how the attacks occurred. Down there now is my niece Kelly reporting the news right now, Kelly?"

The TV showed showed a female newscaster holding a microphone. Behind her was the Night Light alleyway with the charred outline in the shape of a woman on the brick wall, crowds of people were being blocked as police investigated the scene. The camera showed a body covered with a sheet lying on the ground of the alley. Another covered body was being carried on a stretcher and into an ambulance.

"This is Kelly Smith here, coming to you live from the Night Light night club. The first victim of the murder was found dead with his throat ripped open, a woman whose skull was cracked terminally, and another woman whose entire body was charred, but somehow, _not_ dead. According to medics, she appears to be in some sort of a coma but are still baffled as how this is even possible."

Ashley's heart dropped and crashed into her stomach. Fangula was quiet as a church mouse. They watched the rest of the report.

That's when the woman turned her attention to the club bouncer, who was with her. "With me now is Timothy Brown, a bouncer of the night club and one of the unconscious people found at the scene. Mr. Brown, can you tell us exactly what happened that night?"

The bouncer rubbed his head, trying to recollect his thoughts. "Well, it was business as usual until these people came to me telling me there was a fight going on, so I rushed outside, and that's when I blacked out." He shrugged. "It was like, one big blur. All I remember then was the police waking me up. And that's it."

The reporter faced the camera. "Eye witness accounts aside, we've had no confirmation on this attacker from anyone associated with the night club or the attack."

"You want confirmation? No one is safe!"

The camera moved to a woman who just arrived at the scene. It was a woman in her early fifties. With slightly wrinkled skin, an hourglass figure, dyed black hair tied in a bun, and dark eyes. She wore a violet business suit that held her in like a stuffed sausage.

Walking next to her was the beanpole from last night and two security guards, each with a baton at their belts.

Ashley eyes bugged out as she finally found her voice. "That's Mrs. Chambers!" But her comment was promptly ignored as she and the monsters continued watching.

"I'm here with an actual witness who saw that man's bloody death!" She gave him a shove forward. "Tell them what you saw."

The witness swallowed hard and said in a shaky breath, "W-Well, me and my friend Jamal were protecting our girlfriends from another couple who got them kicked out of the night club for like, no reason! Then this dude jumped off the roof and smashed Malissa's head like a melon!" His face went pale as he continued. "And then he pounced and he bit Jamal on the neck! He was attacked by a VAMPIRE!" he said screaming.

The TV was suddenly turned off. Everyone turned and saw Ashley bursting out of the house.


	8. Chapter 8: The Warning

Outside of the Night Light, curious bystanders and TV reporters gathered around Mrs. Chambers and Beanpole as he continued to answer more questions to news hungry reporters and tabloid terrorists with their microphones jabbing and cameras flashing everywhere.

"I know it sounds crazy," says Beanpole. "but there really was a vampire here! If Jamal was here right now, he would tell you all I wouldn't make stuff up!"

Mrs. Chambers fixed her hair as a reporter and his cameraman approached her. "Mrs. Chambers, just how did you run into this young man?"

"Well, you see," the woman coughed. "I was just out for a drive last night when all of a sudden this poor man jumped in front of me and was almost run over! He told me what happened and I called the authorities asap!"

Far from the crowd, behind a tree, was a young woman in a grey trench coat and fedora with her hair in a ponytail. She lifted up her sunglasses, revealing a pair glaring green eyes. It was Ashley, she looked like she just robbed a bank, but she had to be sure no one would recognize her. She was ready to confront Mrs. Chambers' little press conference.

Ashley just looked at Mrs. Chambers in disgust. She thought to herself that if Britney were older, this is exactly what she would be like: The exact same person, only taller.

Ashley rarely saw Mrs. Chambers in person, she's usually found in her grand, expensive mansion or the Society Chic Country Club. Ashley would bet a hundred million dollars that Mrs. Chambers is just as cruel and underhanded as her daughter, maybe more.

After all, all that evil had to come from somewhere.

The witch had to do something before any more of this got out of hand, she marched right up to the mob and wormed her way through. She was just an arm's reach away from Mrs. Chambers, but the Evil Queen was too busy becoming the media star to even notice.

Another reporter approached the woman. "Mrs. Chambers, do you really believe in vampires? And if there is a vampire, how can we be safe?"

"At first, I never believed in vampires, but after seeing the horrifying murder of this poor man, it's hard for me to ignore the evidence. But vampire or not, I won't rest until this murderer is brought to justice! We must have all the people gather in our crusade of moral righteousness against supernatural evil! Together, we must stamp out the sadistic vampire scourge!"

The people applauded for Mrs. Chambers, but Ashley has heard enough, she was about to have her say.

"Now just a minute."

The audience turned, and so did Ashley, she looked over and saw Dawn and Hillary, looking just as upset as Ashley felt.

Hillary went up to Mrs. Chambers and pointed a finger at her. "Don't you think you're getting a little carried away? Organizing forces on the unsupported word of a random person who thinks he saw a vampire? Which, I remind you do not exist. How do we know this man is telling the truth?"

Silent whispers and mumbles hissed through the crowd, a few people actually started to leave!

Mrs. Chambers loomed over Hillary. "I would never bring a dishonest man to discuss someone's death!"

But Hillary stood her ground. "Maybe not, but you sure seem to be eager to take advantage of it."

Now the whispers and mumbles grew louder. Hillary continued,

"Death is a not a light matter! It's something to be taken seriously! For all we know, this could be even worse than a vampire, it could be a serial killer who thinks he's a vampire! So the only logical thing to do is let the proper authorities handle these matters! Not put innocent civilians in harm's way!"

But Mrs. Chambers wasn't having it. "Young lady, your comments will not agree with my staff. Someone check her credentials." Her personal security stepped in.

All of a sudden a real police officer stepped in between the guards. "I think this girl knows what she's talking about." he said.

Dawn nodded. "He's right, we are the people found unconscious in the alley and we'll tell you what really happened."

All the cameras and microphones aimed straight for Dawn. "I went out to check on my friends who went out for fresh air, when all of a sudden that girl with the dreads grabbed me while her friend was about to stab me!" She pointed a finger at beanpole. "And he was one of the people who was helping them!"

Hillary pushed up her glasses before she had her say. "And this "vampire" was really a human being and a good Samaritan who saved Dawn's life."

"Don't listen to them!" Mrs. Chambers cried.

"No. We should. The one you shouldn't be listening to is Mr. Phillips here." the policeman said with a finger pointing at Beanpole. "We did a sobriety test when we arrived at the scene and found out he was intoxicated, his blood alcohol level over two times the legal limit."

Another officer arrived and said, "We also found out that the victim, Jamar Jackson had an extensive wrap sheet including attempted murder charges." He walked over to Beanpole, aka Mr. Phillips, who was now sweating bullets. "We also happen to know there's a few active warrants for your arrest. Or did you forget?"

Mr. Phillips didn't get a chance to speak as he was already cuffed and escorted to a cop cruiser. The news crews were about to ambush Mrs. Chambers with more questions, but ended up chasing after her as she fast-walked with her security behind her and her face hidden behind her hand.

Ashley's jaw hung a mile long. She couldn't believe her luck. All this madness, the uprising threats about her secret being exposed to the world, were stopped.

A shower of relief poured over her. And she didn't even have to lift a finger. In the end, all she needed were the best human friends she could ever ask for.

Before Ashley could properly thank her friends, her phone buzzed. Her heart pounded a bit harder when she saw it was a text message her mother.

_'Come home now. We need to talk.'_

Already mortified, Ashley ran up to the same tree and hopped on her broomstick disguised as a purple scooter.

"Hey! Ashley! Is that you?" Dawn called out. But Ashley had to put her friends on hold. She revved up the scooter and drove off.

* * *

Ashley arrived at her old home, a wave of nostalgia came over her, it's been far too long since she came to her home, the home she was raised in by her own mother.

With a hard swallow, Ashley opened the door and stepped inside. The air was still as if no one was home. But Ashley instinctively headed for the living room, where her eyes caught her mother sitting firmly on the couch.

"Have a seat, dear." Irene said calmly, patting the spot next to her. Ashley nodded and took her seat.

"Honey, I just saw the news." the mother started, which earned a nod from her daughter. "I know it was that vampire you live with who attacked that man."

Ashley just kept nodding.

"And I understand he was only protecting you and saved Dawn's life." Then her brow narrowed. "But there is something I need to know..."

"Yes?" Ashley squeaked.

"Has it ever occurred to you that being with those with monsters is, dangerous?"

But Ashley saw this one coming. "No, Mom. I know you're not used to your baby girl living with monsters, but I'm perfectly safe with them. They take good care of me. I know things were a bit, life threatening last night. But thanks to monsters, my life was saved.

"Y'know, that's another thing." Irene said. "The way that one girl was burnt so badly like she came out a chimney, I've heard a lot of things about vampires, but I don't think a vampire is capable of burning someone and inducing them into a coma like that. That wouldn't happen to be your doing, would it?"

Ashley was back to being speechless.

"Ashley, I know I wasn't there when it happened, but I want you to handle things the mortal way when dealing with mortal things. So no more hocus pocus around humans. I know it was self defense, but what you did was a tad too far. Alright?"

"Well, alright." Ashley answered. "I just panicked, that's all."

"Good, magic can't solve everything, anyway." Irene leaned and gave her daughter a kiss.

Ashley got up and was almost out the door until,

"Ashley."

The girl whirled around. "Yeah?"

"Do you think you can help me with my campaign tomorrow?"

"Well, actually, I can't Mom, me and Bi-, the girls are going to a weekend trip Friday."

Irene looked at Ashley, she could've sworn she heard her daughter say a name that sounded very unfamiliar to her. "Ashley, do you have any other friends I should know about?"

"Mom, of course not! I already told you I don't have a boyfriend! I learned my lesson before."

Irene gave a glare that shot straight through Ashley. "I hope so." Then she turned the other way without a word.

Then Ashley exited the house, and slowly closed the door behind her. Once that was done, she sighed in relief.

* * *

Back at Hillhurst, Ashley was happy to be back in the decrepit building, only to be swamped with hugs once she set foot inside.

"ASHLEY!" Flabber cried from joy. "We saw the whole thing!"

"Hillary and Dawn saved my fangs!" Fangula said, ecstatic with relief.

Ashley couldn't be more happier. "I know! Those two are the best friends a girl could have!"

The monsters all crossed their arms with angry looks.

"I-I mean, best HUMAN friends!" she corrected.

A pause.

"So, what do we do now?" Fangula thought out loud.

"Search me." Mums shrugged.

"Me too." Frankenbeans said.

"Rara." Wolfie barked.

"I think I know!" Flabber shouted. He spun around and changed into a mariachi outfit, stereotype mustache and all, shaking a pair of maracas,

"AAARRRRRIIIIBAAA! Let's have a fiesta and celebrate!" he belted in a Spanish accent.

Everyone else just stared.

Ashley nodded. "...Yep, I live here alright." She shrugged, snapping her fingers and now wearing a green flamenco dancer dress with black polka dots and wore a green rose in her hair now pulled in a bun. She struck a pose. "Ole!" she exclaimed.

Count Fangula tossed his cape off his shoulders then did a spin and pose. "Ole!"

And so, the monsters celebrated by watching Ashley and Fangula perform a passionate dance while Flabber provided musical accompaniment, strumming away on a guitar.

* * *

After the dance, Ashley returned to her normal clothes and retired to her room. She could use some rest, but not yet. Right now, she had to pack her things for the trip Friday. As she started packing her rolling suitcase, she heard a small beeping noise coming from her fanny pack, she got a text message on her phone.

_'Hey Ash! It's Dawn. Think your mom can lend us her car? Some idiot rear-ended me and now the Malibu's in the shop.'_

_'Sure Dawn, I'm sure she'll say yes.'_

_'Thnx girl, c u Friday!'_

With that settled, Ashley nonchalantly went to her photos, opening up a selection of over a hundred pictures. Some were screensavers, some were of her mother, her friends, and special occasions. Ashley scrolled past all of them to her latest pictures, ones very different from the others. Selecting one at random, Ashley looked at the picture of her and Fangula, or rather, a picture of Ashley hugging an invisible man in front of a building with many shining windows.

Scrolling through the rest of her photos, they were all the same, happy photos of the couple. Ashley smiled slightly, she had found the man of her dreams, it may sound cheesy, but that's how she felt about him. Only her imagination could tell her what lies ahead in their relationship.

With a knock at the door, Ashley willed it open and she saw what looked like a mountain of black clothes with a pair of legs underneath.

"Ashley, which clothes do you think I should bring?" the mountain asked.

Ashley chuckled. "I hope that's you, Fang."

The clothing mountain dropped to the floor, revealing a smiling vampire with open arms. "You know it, Pumpkin. Now, how about a hug for your count?"

The two shared a warm hug, then picked up the clothes and separated them from the normal to abnormal. Once that was taken care of, Ashley asked, "So, you got your suitcase?"

Fangula blinked. "My what?"

"Fang, the whole point of packing luggage is putting in a suitcase." she joked.

"Oh, uh, funny thing about that...I don't have one."

Ashley cracked her knuckles. "Leave it to me." She pointed and a black rolling suitcase appeared. With a point and a zap of her fingers, all of the couple's luggage was all packed and ready to go. They hopped on Ashley's bed and sat in silence for a brief moment.

Ashley sighed. "I love being a witch."

Fangula agreed wholeheartedly. "So do I...hey, Ashley?"

"Hm?"

"There's something I need to know..."

Ashley turned to him. "Yeah?"

The count stayed silent for a moment."After the guys and I saw the news, we didn't hear from you, so Flabber used his crystal ball to see where you were and...we saw you talking with your mother."

"Y-You did?!"

Now he turned to her wearing a small frown. "And you didn't tell her about us?"

Ashley gulped a little. "Well, no. She doesn't need to know about these things."

Fangula cocked his head backed a bit. "'These things?' What? Are you saying she won't like me or something?"

Ashley didn't hesitate to reply. "Yeah, exactly."

"Are you ashamed of me?"

"Fang! I'm never ashamed of you!" Ashley almost shouted, honest and true. "It's just, well, everyone knows that a mother's daughter should be with someone perfect. And by perfect I mean someone with a job, or money, or an education-"

"And I've got none of those." Fangula shot back.

All of the humor left Ashley's face, a serious look came over. "Neither did Damien."

Fangula's eyes were as wide as full moons. "Damien...?" He started to shudder with rising rage. That was a name he hadn't heard from in what felt like ages and ages... and he kind of liked it that way.

"Listen Fang, my mom is a force of nature when comes to men. When I was dating Damien, he was always on thin ice, and when he tried to kill me, that was the straw that broke my mom's back. She declared that no more men will come into my life. She thinks no one is good enough for me. I know, lying to my mom is wrong, but I'm doing this for us."

Reading each others' minds, the two shared another hug. "She's going to have to know sooner or later." Fangula said, still hugging.

Ashley's hug got a little tighter. "She'll know. Just not now, we'll tell her when the time's right."


	9. Chapter 9: Double Or Something

With all the excitement, it was hard to sleep, but Ashley and Fangula woke up about nine or so, that was a good early time. They also enjoyed a huge breakfast banquet of Flabber's before they took off.

By noon, things were all set and the couple were ready to go. All of the monsters came down to the foyer to wish them bon voyage with hugs, telling them be safe and have fun.

"Are you sure you two have everything?" Flabber asked.

"Yeah, I got everything." Ashley said, with her suitcase and magic fanny pack strapped on.

"Double checked this morning." Fangula added.

Flabber was a bit concerned that Fangula was going to spend a weekend with humans, but knowing that Ashley was with him, his concern was more at ease.

"Well, we better get going." Fangula said, grabbing the handle of his suitcase.

"Not yet." Ashley said.

"What?"

Ashley pointed at the vampire's attire: his usual vampire outfit, cape and all.

"Oh..."

With a sigh, Ashley pointed and changed the vampire's outfit. Now he wore a red oxford short sleeve shirt with blue jeans and black shoes.

Ashley smiled. "Now that's more like it."

Everyone headed outside and Ashley whistled for Broomy. The broomstick jumped off the porch as it prepared itself. Ashley gathered the magic in her hands and fired them straight as Broomy, turning it into an old black car that could easily fit ten. Ashley made it look a little worn so her friends wouldn't think she bought an expensive looking car.

Packing their things and waving their goodbyes, Ashley and Fangula drove off to pick up the rest of the friends.

* * *

Ashley and Fangula were jamming out to Pussycat Dolls's 'Magic' while driving through town. Ashley turned the volume down a little so she could talk to her boyfriend.

"I can't wait for you to meet Heather, she's really sweet."

Fangula raised a brow. "If I don't creep her out first." he said with a chuckle.

With a little pout, Ashley gave him a light shove, but the vampire just laughed it off. "As long as you keep your cravings in check, it's all good." the redhead replied.

As the drove, Fangula watched the road, seeing Charterville pass him by. Ashley always told him it was a small town and she wasn't kidding, it was puny. But hey, nobody's perfect, not even their towns.

"Y'know, Charterville reminds me of my old village." Fangula sighed.

"Your village?" Ashley asked, but still kept her eyes on the road. "Back in Transylvania?"

"Yep, before we were chased out, that is."

When they arrived at a stop light, Ashley got a chance to turn and say, "Chased out?!"

"Yup, before we came to America, the monsters and I met in Transylvania and roomed in a little castle apartment. It wasn't much, but it kept a nice roof over our heads. But every night or so, the villagers would show up and make a racket trying to do us in and all. We couldn't even show our faces without inspiring fear and loathing."

Ashley wanted to stare, but she had to focus driving. "...You say that like it's no big deal."

Fangula shrugged. "Well, you know villagers, you can't live with them and you can't get balanced meals without them."

Ashley wouldn't have touched that with a ten foot pole.

"We've tried talking to them, but every time we did, they'd break out the stakes and garlic, try to shoot Wolfie with silver bullets, tie Frankie to horses and tear him limb from limb. It took us hours to sew him back together again."

Ashley would ask more, but when she turned the next corner, she gasped loudly. She pulled over on the side of the road and looked over across the street. When Fangula looked, his silver eyes shot up.

On the side of the street, was a small crowd of middle aged women and their husbands holding up signs with some saying, DOWN WITH VAMPIRES! THANKS, BUT NO FANGS! SEND VAMPIRES BACK TO HELL!

Ashley was shocked, but Fangula took it the worst by fumbling with his seat belt as he unbuckled himself and scurried to the rear end of the car, shivering with fear.

"Stay here and don't do anything 'til I get back." Ashley ordered as she hopped out of the car. The count had no argument with that.

Ashley went over to the crowd and it didn't surprise her to see Mrs. Chambers leading this crowd of would-be villagers.

"There's a beast on the loose! A winged spawn of the netherworld! For the good of the community, we must take action!" Mrs. Chambers said through her megaphone.

Ashley shot a glare when she saw Britney's cronies, the Tracksuit Twins at a stand selling campaign pamphlets and signs. As well as wooden stakes, leis of garlic and vampire hater inspired t-shirts. Adding to Ashley's shock, people were actually buying them! It was if no one ever listened to Dawn and Hillary on the news yesterday!

"Ms. Commoner, they let you over here?" a voice said behind Ashley.

Turning with a glare on her face, Ashley saw Britney Chambers back with a vengeance.

Keeping her composure, Ashley said, "I can't believe your mother is doing this!"

"Why wouldn't she?" Britney simply shrugged. "She and the rest of the neighborhood watch is in an uproar with vampire sightings."

Ashley crossed her arms. "Could it be people are just seeing these things because your causing them to panic?"

Britney sighed in annoyance. "I couldn't care less. This is just what Mother needs to boost her campaign. People are suckers when it comes to vampires. Expect fireworks, end of message." With that, Britney swaggered away.

* * *

"What are we doing here?" Fangula asked as Ashley pulled into the nearest gas station.

Ashley unzipped her fanny pack. "Before we left home, I packed a few goodies, just in case." She took out Flabber's spell book. "There's no way I'm letting Britney get away with this."

"Really?! You're actually going to let Britney have it?!" Fangula said excited.

"No, someone's gotta keep this vampire hunt from getting out of control and help my mom win the election, and that someone is me."

"How?"

"I'll make it so I can be in two places at once! I'll use a spell to make another me!"

"What?!" Fangula shouted.

"I said, make another me!" Ashley said louder. "I'll use a spell to create a twin. While we're off on our trip, the other me will take care of Britney's followers and get my mom elected in no time!"

Before Fangula could protest, Ashley shrunk the spell book to make it pocket sized, got out and rushed to the gas station. She headed into the restroom and locked herself in. Ashley returned the book to it's normal size and looked through the pages.

Ashley examined each spell carefully, she needed to find the perfect spell to create the perfect twin of herself, one that would make sure it'll fool her mom for sure. After searching the 'T' section for twin and the 'C' section for copy, Ashley finally found the right spell in the 'D' section for double.

But for this to work, Ashley needed a certain potion, one she already made in the chamber at Hillhurst. What are the odds?

Snapping her fingers, the potion was in Ashley's palm. It was a potion that looked and fizzed like grape soda in a round glass bottle. Hopefully, it tasted the same too.

Ashley uncorked the bottle, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The magic in her hands made the potion bubble, when it started to glow, Ashley began the incantation.

_"Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!_

_Time to split! And on the double!"_

When a loud poof shot from the bottle, Ashley downed the ghastly concoction until there wasn't a drop left.

A few seconds past, nothing.

Then, the witchlet gagged bitterly from the taste. Her knees wobbled as the room started to spin. Ashley clutched her head to keep it from spiraling. When she opened her eyes, everything stopped spinning.

Ashley suddenly cried out so loudly she could've sworn the people outside could hear her. She felt like she took a giant, heavy Karate chop that split her right down the middle. It didn't stop there, Ashley felt the pain like she was literally being torn apart. She contorted as the splitting pain grew worse.

Just when the pain was too great, Ashley felt the left side of her body coming off, it felt like ripping off a bandage - a bandage that covered one half of her entire body.

When the pain finally stopped, Ashley took a few breaths, opened her eyes, and turned to her side.

"Oh my God..." Ashley breathed, taking a few steps back. "Oh my God. Oh my God."

"Oh my God is right..." said Ashley, well, the _other_ Ashley.

The spell worked. Ashley was staring at a perfect double of herself. It was like she was looking in a mirror, the double was exact. The clothes, the looks, the voice, the shocked expression, everything.

Soon Ashley's shock turned into feverish excitement. "Yes! I did it! I can't believe that actually worked!"

The other Ashley smiled. "Of course it worked, but even I had to admit, this threw me for a loop."

Ashley clapped her hands together. "Alright, Gorgeous! You know the plan?"

Other Ashley gave a thumbs up. "You can count on me, me!" The clone snapped her fingers and disappeared in green sparkles.

* * *

At the Deacon household, Irene was struggling as she fumed and fussed over her campaign. It's bad enough this vampire thing got out, but it was actually dropping her polls! She clutched her head in stress. How can people be so contempt with vampires? This is politics!

That's when Irene heard knocking at the door. She got up, unlatched the handle and saw,

"Ashley?!" Irene said surprised. "What are you doing here?! I thought you were on your cabin trip!"

Other Ashley shook her head. "I told the girls I can't make it. I wanted to stay and help you with your campaign and leave the Chambers family in the dust."

Irene put a hand to her chest. To think, her own daughter would put off a cabin trip just for her? The mother embraced her daughter in a warm hug. "Thank you so much, Sweetie. What would I ever do without you?"

The double smiled. "You'll never know, Mom, you'll never know."


	10. Chapter 10: Heather

Ashley and Fangula finally arrived at Dawn's place. She saw her friends waiting right outside on the side of the road. Ashley saw their impatient expressions, but she was prepared for this, she rolled down the window.

"Sorry I'm late guys, the traffic was murder."

Dawn lowered her perfectly plucked brows. "Let me guess, the vampire palooza back there slowed you down?" she said as the humans hopped in the back seat.

Fangula turned to face them. "You guys know about that?"

"Pfft, who hasn't?" said Hillary, rolling her eyes. "But unlike those uneducated, superstitious yahoos, I don't believe in that stuff."

Ashley chuckled a little. She knew an intellectual girl like Hillary would never believe in something like vampires or any other kind of monster. Unless they've been proven scientifically or in the court of law, then she remains holy dubious.

"I'm with you, girl." Dawn said with a gesture from her hand. "I've never heard something so stupid in my life."

Now Ashley spun around and looked at the blonde, shocked. Dawn didn't believe in vampires?! The girl who grew up sleeping with a baseball bat when she thought there was a monster in her toy chest?

"You...don't believe in vampires?" Fangula questioned.

"Nope, there's barely any evidence to confirm something so outrageous." Hillary simply said. The count swallowed a little, since there was proof sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Besides, vampires are so overdone." Dawn pointed out.

"True." agreed Hillary.

The girls earned glares from the vampire, he was about to speak,

"So, where's Heather?" Ashley interrupted just in time.

"She's already at the cabin." said Dawn. "We'll see her up there."

The gang got on the road and headed out. Ashley and Fangula were excited about their first big trip together, one they won't forget.

"So, where is this cabin anyway?" Fangula asked.

"It's just up north." Ashley said. "It'll take a while before we get there."

"It's about a good two hour drive." Dawn added. "But it'll fly by."

They were already on the country road, passing by the cozy scenery of farm houses with their own barns, water towers, and a few farm animals.

"So Biff, what's it like in Romania?" Dawn asked, getting his attention.

"Huh?"

Hillary chuckled. "Romania, what's it like there?"

"Oh, well it's very beautiful, especially at night." Fangula replied.

"Are there like, big awesome castles there and stuff?" asked Dawn.

"Oh, you bet!" he answered. "There's a lot of history there."

Ashley smiled, proud of her boyfriend conversing well with other humans. It's remarkable how much his people skills have developed so well.

_'I love you, Fang.' _she thought as she turned into an exit.

Hillary watched as the trio were chatting. Seeing Ashley and Biff's faces practically beamed with joy just being together, maybe Ashley truly found someone special after all.

Dawn had another question. "So, how did you two meet?"

They were prepared for this one, so the count let Ashley take this. "We met when the exchange program asked me to show him around and he stayed at my place for a bit."

"What do your parents do for a living Biff?"

Ashley wasn't prepared for that. In fact, she doesn't know anything about his parents. She looked over to him, he looked like he was trying to find the right answer, but not the actual truth.

"Well, my mother is really a stay at home mom, she usually takes care of our home." his voice sounded truthful.

"Do you ever miss her?" Ashley asked.

'Biff' nodded, "Sometimes, but I do write to her."

"What about your father?"

A sad look came to his face. "Actually...my father died a long time ago."

Ashley could feel his pain. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything." Ashley said apologetically.

"It's okay, you didn't know, that's all."

The girls in the back decided to lighten up the conversation with more questions about Romania and the couple's love life, all of which Fangula and Ashley happily answered without revealing too much. After some jokes and small talk, Ashley lightened things up more by playing her music. Everyone was bouncing, singing, lip syncing, and joy kicking to the beat as they kept on the road.

And the whole time, not even for a minute, Fangula didn't feel like an outcast.

* * *

"Finally!" Dawn exclaimed as they pulled up to a gravel driveway that headed up a hill in the forest. "You guys are gonna love this place! It's got a lake, a small beach, a pool table, everything!"

Ashley looked from the window and was amazed by the cabin. It was about two stories and made of pure log and stone. It was nestled just on top of the hill. To Fangula, it almost reminded him of the Hillhurst house, if it was haunted by lumberjacks.

"I know it's a little small." said Dawn, rubbing her neck.

"Hey, it's a palace compared to my house." Ashley replied.

Everyone got out and stretched out their legs while taking in the fresh air. "Rest and relaxation straight inside!" Hillary said.

"Can't wait." Fangula stated, looking at his girlfriend. With that, they happily took each other's hand and walked forward.

"Hello? Heather! We're here!" Dawn called out for her cousin once everybody got in. But no response, Dawn tried again. "HEATH-"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" an agitated voice shouted from upstairs.

Fangula looked at Ashley, concerned. "Relax Fang," Ashley whispered. "Driving Heather nuts is Dawn's favorite sport."

Fangula looked around the cabin, it was nothing like Hillhurst on the inside. It was warm and cozy, with the smell of pine and wood polish in the air. But that's exactly what makes it so different, and the strangest thing of all is...he actually felt at ease! It was such a warm and inviting place, he felt welcome already.

"Ashley!" Turning around, Fangula and Ashley saw a tall girl practically running down the stairs, looking like she just won the lottery.

"Heather!" Ashley rushed right over and greeted her with a hug. "I can't believe it's really you, it's been way too long!"

"I know, you're finally here!" The two let go and smiled at each other. Heather had long golden brown hair that reached just below her shoulders and bangs above her dark eyes. She wore a dark blue t-shirt and white jean shorts.

"About time you got them up here, Dawn." Heather joked

"Hey! I didn't drive this time!" Dawn pouted. "Ashley did!"

"Good thing too," Heather said, "cause you drive like a eight hundred year old lady!"

Dawn huffed while the rest laughed, but Fangula laughed the hardest for some reason.

Heather paused and her smile fell when she saw the pale young man laughing alongside the girls. Fangula noticed the strange look he was getting and stopped laughing.

Ashley noticed her friend's stare. "Hey Heather, there's no reason to be suspicious." She grabbed the vampire's hand and pulled him in closer. "Heather, this is my awesome boyfriend, Biff."

"Nice to meet you, Heather." 'Biff' greeted shyly with a small wave.

"Nice to meet you..." Heather waved back. But Ashley heard a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Alright, let's get unpacked." Dawn said as she and Hillary headed upstairs. Fangula followed them and Ashley was about to as well, until Heather tapped her on the shoulder.

"Is he sick or something?" Heather whispered in Ashley's ear.

Ashley shook her head. "No Heather, he's just a little pale, that's all."

"Is he goth?"

"Oh yeah!" Ashley chuckled with a nod. "Definitely."

"I didn't know you were into goths."

The redhead just shrugged. "Well, there's just misunderstood, that's all."

* * *

Later that night, Dawn led Ashley and Fangula to their room. "And here's what you've been waiting for - a love nest fit for the love birds!" she said, switching on the light. Ashley looked around the cozy room seeing a dresser with a mirror, a small bathroom, and a queen sized bed.

The count plastered on a smile. "Oh...we're sharing this room?"

Dawn smiled. "Of course! Well, I'll let you two get settled in and if you need anything, just shout it out!" she said cheerfully.

Fangula nodded as Dawn closed the door and left. Then he turned to Ashley. '_Are you kidding me?!'_ he asked his mind.

Suddenly, a loud humming noise came from outside, it sounded like an engine revving up. The couple left the bedroom and looked down the stairs and saw Heather getting the door.

"Hey Heather, what's going on?" Ashley called from above.

Heather turned to Ashley. "It's Nano with her chili!" she answered.

Ashley's face was alight with excitement. "Nano?! Nano's here too?!"

Fangula knitted his brow. "Who?"

But Ashley rushed downstairs before he got an answer.


	11. Chapter 11: Another Night Alone

When Heather opened the door, Fangula rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

But he wasn't. It was an elderly African American woman who wore the most unlikely wardrobe. Black biker boots, pink sweatpants, a black leather jacket over a light blue moo moo dress and black biker gloves holding a big pot of something scrumptious smelling inside.

"Nano!" Ashley smiled wide.

The woman now named Nano laughed. "Well, blow my muffler! Is that Ashley? That tall, sweet, skinny thing?!"

Ashley opened up her arms for a big hug. "You know it, Nano!"

Nano handed the pot over to Heather and slammed the redhead with a hug that felt like a football tackle. "Oh, hello gorgeous! I missed you so much, Baby doll!"

Ashley chuckled. "Good to see you too, Nano."

"I hope you didn't have too much fun getting back here." Heather said curtly, giving the woman a look.

"Oh, Heather, I was fine out there. I'm a grown up, look at me!" She gestured to herself. Heather heaved a sigh.

"Hey Nano," Ashley said, getting her attention. "There's someone I want you to meet." Fangula took his cue and approached the two women. "Nano, this is my boyfriend, Biff. Biff, this is Nano."

"Nice to meet you, Madame." Fangula said with a slight bow.

"I'm not a madame, call me Nano" she replied. "I'm a swinging single still in the prime of youth. Don't you forget it."

Fangula smiled wider. This woman was very charismatic and tough, even by human standards!

"Now what are we standing around for?!" Nano said. "Let's eat this chili before it loses it's zing!"

"Alright!" Ashley said, she turned to Fangula. "You're gonna love Nano's chili! It should be featured on a cooking show!"

"Hey now, don't try to buttering me up, Ash." Nano said. Ashley grinned and Fangula chuckled.

Now that the welcomes were out of the way, everyone gathered in the dining room to eat. Nano insisted she would set the table herself, so the others took a seat and waited for the food.

"You sure you don't need help, Nano?" asked Nano.

"Of course not, honey." Nano replied, carry handfuls of bowls. As she set the table, Nano bumped on and it nearly fell to the floor until Fangula caught it in a flash. He sighed in relief.

"Wow, nice reflexes." Nano commented.

"Oh, uh, thanks." the vampire said.

The table was set and everyone's mouth watered as Nano poured a portion of chili into each bowl.

"Looks good!" Dawn said.

Fangula took a whiff. "Smells good."

"And if I know Nano, it tastes good." Hillary said.

The ladies took their spoons and dug in. It took Fangula back a bit, seeing the girls eat like this reminded him of how the monsters eat back home, but he popped in a spoonful of chili.

_'Wow! This is delicious!' _he thought. _"No wonder they're so nuts over it!'_

The chili was almost gone as soon as it hit the table. With everyone's stomachs satisfied, a conversation began.

"So Biff, are you goth or something?" Nano asked.

"Nano!" said a surprised Heather.

"Hm?"

Ashley looked at Fang, she let out a big, belly laugh. The count's cheeks were stuffed with chili like a chipmunk and drips of chili were running down his face. Then all the girls laughed as Fangula sheepishly swallowed the rest of his chili and wiped his face.

"Yeah, Nano, he's definitely goth." Ashley answered for him.

Fangula didn't know if that was a compliment or not, but he was cool with it.

Once dinner was done and Nano was cleaning the dishes, Ashley and Fangula went out to the backyard, followed by the three girls. The backyard had a nice grassy area with plenty of room to relax, a boat deck in the water, and a big tree to chill in the shade.

"So, what do you think of Nano?" Ashley asked.

"She's really something," Fangula replied with a chuckle. "but in the best way."

"No kidding, you emptied three whole bowls of her chili!" Dawn replied.

"I was hungry!" the vampire whined like a kid. The girls just laughed.

Fangula laughed as well, Nano as well as Heather were two of the kindest humans he ever met. Yet he can't help but feel a little sad, because they wouldn't be so kind if they knew what he really was...

Fangula felt something lightly tickle his neck and he giggled, he looked back and saw Ashley's smiling face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the witch asked, she grabbed his arm and snuggled up to him. "Spacing out on me?"

Fangula giggled has he held his girlfriend in his arms, swaying each other back and forth and shared as kiss until,

"Red card!" Dawn shouted. "Get a room, you two!"

The couple pulled away, flustered that they got carried away in front of people.

"Uh, hey! Is that a tree swing?" Ashley chuckled, pointing at an old plank of wood tied to a tree branch.

"I wouldn't mess around with that." Heather said. "It looks pretty worn out."

But her warning went out Dawn's ear and out the other as she jumped on. She stood on the plank and swung herself up and down, hollering and whopping away.

"Dawn! Get down!" Heather shouted, but Dawn was too busy having fun.

When she finally got off, Ashley was practically bouncing off the grass. "Me next! Me next!" Dawn gladly gestured to the swing as Ashley hopped on.

"Woo!" Ashley shouted in between laughs. She rose high up and down, then for a little flair, she started spinning at the same time!

"Okay, now you're just showing off!" Hillary said with a laugh.

"Biff can go next." Heather said. "I don't want to break anything on me."

"Me neither." Hillary said.

Ashley slowed down and got off. Fangula helped the girl get back on her feet before taking his turn.

_'He sure is nice...'_ Dawn thought. _"You really got a winner, Ash.'_

"Just hang on tight to the rope and be careful, okay?" Ashley instructed.

"I know." Fangula said. "I know how swings work." He began swaying his body back and forth, slowly moving at first, then picked up speed in seconds, getting higher and faster.

"Yee-haaaaw!" Fangula cried as he kept swinging higher.

Ashley laughed. "Alright Tarzan, get down before you hurt yourself."

But the vampire wanted to finish with style. Once he was high enough toward the sky, he jumped off. But the swing caught him by the foot and threw him off balance.

Fangula screamed as he back flipped across the yard and landed hard on the ground.

Everyone rushed to Fangula, afraid they just witnessed someone's death.

"Dawn, call 911!" Heather said.

But before Dawn could pull out her phone, Fangula got up and brushed himself off.

"Well, that was embarrassing," he chuckled. "but did you guys see-" He noticed all the shocked stares he was getting from the girls, but Ashley's stare was more afraid than shocked.

They were all silent until they heard Nano shout, "Man! That was a wicked wipe out, Biff!" Turns out, she's been watching the whole thing.

"Are you okay?" Hillary asked. "I've never seen anything like that! You must've broken something!"

"No, I'm fine." Fangula replied, rubbing his neck. "I just had some bad luck back there."

"Alright, party animals!" Nano said. "It's time for bed, we've got big plans tomorrow!"

* * *

After that swinging experience, everyone headed back inside and got ready for bed. Ashley and the count went to their bedroom. "But still Fang, that was pretty awesome back there." she commented. But it looked like Fangula didn't even notice Ashley speaking.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Fangula didn't reply. Ashley had a pretty good feeling what was up.

"Come on Fang, it's no big deal." Ashley said, "We're just sharing a bedroom. Is that so wrong?"

"It is a big deal!" Fangula replied. "Is is so wrong!"

Ashley frowned as she crossed her arms. "Why is sharing a bed with me such a big deal anyway? You've done it before!"

"Well, I- I-" The vampire shuffled his feet as he fussed over what to say next.

Ashley rolled her emerald eyes. "You've given me bites to the neck and kisses on the lips on a daily basis and you're afraid of sleeping with your own girlfriend? I mean, seriously? Come on."

Fangula bit his lip. Ashley was a hundred percent right. He had no other choice than to make good here.

"We're just sleeping next to each other and that's it, okay?" The witch snapped her fingers and changed into her green nightgown with black lace. She looked over to Fangula. "Aren't you going to change?"

"W-Well, I..." he muttered. "don't have pajamas."

Ashley grinned. "I can fix that." She pointed her finger at him and now, the vampire wore a white tank top with black pajama pants with red bats on them.

Fangula smiled as he admired his new sleepwear. "Not bad."

"I'll say." Ashley agreed. "Now, let's head to bed."

The couple got in the bed, ready to do it right this time. As soon as Ashley turned off the light, Fangula didn't feel so nervous as he did the first time, yet he still can't close his eyes to sleep, no matter how much he yawned.

Ashley turned over to him. "Cant sleep, huh?" The count gave a nod.

Then Ashley blinked. "I have an idea, lie down."

With a shrug, Fangula rolled over on his stomach. A little nervous about this idea, the vampire winced when he felt his shirt being pulled up. He started to panic, struggling not to show it.

Ashley smiled reassuringly. "Just relax, Fang. Calm down." Her boyfriend nodded and closed his eyes, trying to ease his troubled mind.

Ashley then brought her hands up and massaged his back soothingly. He sighed in gratitude, his worries just melted away.

The girlfriend continued to massage his back, shoulders, and neck expertly and occasionally gently poking his sides to make him giggle.

Fangula sighed again. "You have...very soft hands." he seemed to be falling asleep.

In Heather's room, she stared up at the ceiling, not feeling even a little sleepy. She thought back to when Biff pushed himself on the swing and fell. There's no way a normal person would come out of that without seriously injuring himself.

And what about his complexion? Even though Ashley said he was pale, no one could possibly be that pale. He looked like he didn't have a pint of blood in his body.

Heather got up out of bed and went down the hall, quiet as a mouse as she headed toward Ashley's room.

When Heather slowly opened the door a crack, she looked and saw Biff and Ashley both sound asleep laying under the covers. Ashley was snuggled into the boy's chest with his wrapped his arms around her so lovingly.

Seeing those two in such bliss, Heather quietly closed the door and went back to bed.


	12. Chapter 12: Misplaced Reflection

Back at Hillhurst, things were quite calm and serene. Yet it felt a little odd for the monsters having a double of Ashley around. It looked, sounded, and acted exactly like Ashley. Which is why they feel a little strange about it.

All they know is, Ashley cast a darn good double spell.

Other Ashley came downstairs. "Hey guys, I'm going over to my mom's, I'll see you soon."

But then, Little Ghoul rushed in. "Hold on a spell! I just got this in the mail!" She reached into her robe and pulled out a blue box. "I got a few things from the witch wide web. Inside is a winner's charm, seven lucky rabbit's feet, a stuff the ballet box incantation-"

"Forget it, Little Ghoul." Other Ashley said. "I'm not using magic to cheat."

"It's not cheating!" the ghoul protested. "It's called an advantage in the competition."

But Ashley just kept walking. Little Ghoul grabbed her by the arm. "Come on! At least take this!" She took out a small compact mirror.

Ashley was confused as she took the mirror. What good would this do? She was about to open it, but Little Ghoul stopped her.

"Ah, ah, ah! No peeking! This is for that blue blood Britney! Make sure _she's_ the one who looks in the mirror."

"What does it do?" Ashley asked.

"Something that will make Britney sorry that she even thought about running against your mother!" Little Ghoul said, ringing her hands.

Ashley grinned as she looked at the thing. "Tempting, very temping. But, I'd rather not."

Little Ghoul slumped over in disappointment.

Seeing this, Ashley put the mirror in her pocket. "But I'll hold onto it, just in case." She winked.

"Now you're talking!" Little Ghoul said.

With a point at herself, Ashley materialized right at her mother's house in the living room, where she was in the middle of her laptop time, she jumped, startled.

"Ashley! What did I tell you about that?!" Irene said, holding a hand to her chest.

Rachel sheepishly rubbed her neck. "Sorry, Mom. I just wanted to check up on you to see how you're doing."

Irene looked at her laptop screen. "Well, the early polling numbers are in...and we're still behind."

Ashley was exasperated. "What?! After all our hard work?! We've put up enough signs, buttons, and speeches and we're still behind?!"

Irene looked down. "I'm afraid so..."

But that wasn't enough to lower Ashley's spirit. In fact, she had an idea. "Don't worry Mom, I can fix this!" She pointed to herself and-

"Not so fast!" Irene said sharply, stopping her daughter. "What are you up to?"

Ashley held out her palm and a stack of her mother's campaign pamphlets was in her hand. "I'm just going to hand out more pamphlets. That's all." she said innocently.

Irene sighed. "Alright, but remember. I want to win this race fair and square. So no magic. Understand?"

"Understood." Then Ashley zapped herself away.

* * *

Ashley decided the local mall would be a perfect place to boost her mother's campaign. She began putting up posters here and there.

With the posters up, Ashley took out the compact mirror. As she stared at it, she wondered what this could possible do to Britney? Maybe turn her into a frog? Nah, too old school. Or...

Suddenly, someone bumped into Ashley, making her drop the mirror. The person picked up the object.

"You dropped this." a female voice said. She handed Ashley the mirror.

Ashley looked up. Thank y-"

But the person was already gone. Confused, Ashley looked around, but saw no one else around her. Ashley just shrugged it off and put the mirror back in her pocket.

"Hey, Deacon."

With a sigh, Ashley turned and saw Britney and the Tracksuit twins.

"What do you want now?" Ashley asked annoyed. "In need of a personality transplant?"

"Save the comebacks for when we beat you." Britney snapped.

Ashley crossed her arms. "I'll bet your mom only wants to win just to boost your family's ego. You people don't care about Charterville, you just care about yourselves. Just stay out of my way, unlike your mom, my mom takes this campaign seriously. She doesn't need to spread mass hysteria just to bring up her chances of winning."

"If she really is your mom." Britney said.

Ashley blinked. "What?"

"I said, if she really is your mom." Britney snapped her fingers and one of the twins pulled out a folder. "We've taken the liberty of checking your mother's credentials. And according to them, there's no records whatsoever of your birth or adoption. Or your existence."

Ashley was stunned. "W-What?"

Britney leaned toward her. "In other words, Irene is not your mother."

Ashley stumbled back in shock, the girls nonchalantly left.

A moment passed, then Ashley's face snapped into a face full of rage, unable to believe Britney could possibly mean it. Not only did she not believe it, but it angered her. There's no way in the world she would believe her own mother would lie to her so for long.

To think, Britney would go so far as to make up something so outrageous just to spite her?!

That was the straw that broke the witch's back. She took out the compact mirror, turned around and took a good look at Britney's gaudy purse.

_"Don't do it."_

Ashley stiffened. It was the voice of the ghost lady, the one Ashley met in Charterville Cemetery and gave her the magic key necklace. Her voice would never say anything to Ashley unless something epic was going to happen.

And Ashley knew something epic was going down, making Britney suffer once and for all.

With the mirror in hand, Ashley pointed at Britney's purse. After her fingertip sparkled, the mirror in her hand was now replaced with the compact mirror from Britney purse.

With the ordinary compact mirror in her possession, Ashley smiled, knowing that Britney was going to suffer at last.

* * *

After spending and shopping until her credit card was maxed out, Britney headed into the ladies' room to freshen up while her toadies waited outside, carrying all of their leader's purchases.

She reached into her purse and pulled out her mirror. When she snapped it open and Britney's reflection appeared, she saw the glass seemingly fill up with a black fog. Britney stared in astonishment as the black mist swirled around in the mirror.

Then, from in the darkness, a pair of solid red eyes flashed.

Britney's scream was heard from outside.

Hearing the scream, Ashley smiled even wider. She kept that smile all day as she put up more posters and reinforcing them with magic so Britney's goons won't tear them down.


	13. Chapter 13: Down Memory Lane

When Fangula woke up the next morning, he could faintly see how bright it was outside through the closed curtains. Slowly getting up and looked around, he didn't see Ashley around, so she was probably downstairs.

He peeked through the curtains just a tiny bit, he is sensitive to light after all. Despite this, he actually thought it was a...nice day! He saw the tree in the backyard, chuckling to himself about that little stunt he pulled last night.

Glancing over his shoulder, Fangula saw a change of clothes waiting for him on the bed. He smiled, having a pretty good feeling Ashley got his clothes out for him.

After putting on grey jeans and a black blazer under a red shirt, he went over to his suitcase and pulled out a small cooler. His suitcase was a magic one like Ashley's fanny pack. He opened it up and pulled out a transfusion bag of blood.

He popped the tube in his mouth and sucked out all the blood in seconds like a juice box. He put the now empty bag back in the cooler, packed it away, and headed downstairs.

Peeking into the living room, Fangula hasn't seen the girls around. He looked over at the digital clock and his eyes snapped open. It was one o'clock in the afternoon!

Fangula felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked over and no one was there. He felt another tap and looked over, but no one was there.

Getting a little irritated, his vampire instincts kicked in. When he sensed a hand about to reach him, he turned in a flash and felt a pair of lips touching his.

Startled, but once the vampire saw it was Ashley kissing him, he grinned through the kiss and hugged her.

Ashley pulled away and giggled. "Gotcha."

"Gotcha isn't exactly the right word." the count mentioned. "Where are the others?"

"Nano and Heather are running some errands and Dawn and Hillary are-

Ashley suddenly got a text. "Hold that thought." She got out her phone to see who it was. "It's my double!"

"Your double has a phone?" Fangula asked, confused.

"You see, when I created my double, everything about it was exact. Including the things I had on me when the spell was cast, like my phone for instance." Ashley explained, she read the message.

_'Hi, me! Just checking in to see how things are!'_

_'Everything's fine! Nano's here! I couldn't believe it!'_

_'OMG! Nano?! That's great! Tell her I said hi!'_

_'Wouldn't that kind of confuse her? Lol'_

_'Oh yeah :p'_

_'So how's the campaign?'_

_'If you must know... we're actually in the lead and this vampire thing is cooling down!'_

_'Awesome! But what about Britney?'_

_'Thanks to a little ghoulish friend, she's been out of our hair for a whole day!'_

_'LOL! Awesome! I don't know what you two did to her, but we should have done it a long time ago!'_

_'Yeah, anyway, my battery's getting low, I'll fill you in later! Cya!_

_'Cya!'_

"Sounds like that double's been busy..." Fangula commented.

"Definitely. About time Britney got out of our way. Now Mom's gonna win for sure!"

"Why couldn't you handle it instead of Little Ghoul and a double?"

"Because, I always thought Britney wasn't worth it. But when it comes to ruining my family, then she better expect trouble. And my double thinks so too."

That's when Heather came into the house. "Come on, Ash! We were suppose to meet with Nano fifteen minutes ago!"

"Alright, alright." Ashley said. Now that Fangula was wide awake, they were ready to split. Everyone piled into Ashley's black van and drove off.

* * *

"So, where are we going again?" asked Ashley.

"To Zoom Comics." Hillary replied.

Fangula's eyes widened, but Ashley raised a brow. "But didn't that place close down a while ago?" she asked.

"Not really, it just moved to another place, that's all."

As Dawn was driving after Hillary gave her the right directions, Fangula talked to Dawn.

"Why did Zoom comics move somewhere else?" he asked.

"Well, the owners, Nano and her son Aaron and his wife Abbie were going under after an accident. And it was only a matter of time before comic books were no longer a hot commodity in this world, since people liked romantic fiction and graphic novels, so they decided to move somewhere else for a fresh start."

"Abbie is also a friend of my mom." Ashley mentioned. "They used to work in the same real estate until Aaron had to go away on business, so Abbie decided to take over."

Ashley paused. "...which really surprised me, she never really was a fan of comics, and neither is my mom."

Fangula hesitated for a moment,

But before he could say any more, they arrived at the new Zoom Comics. It used to be a huge department store, but now it was going to be the best and biggest Comic emporium.

As they were getting out, Ashley went up to her boyfriend, noticing his bewildered look. "Is something up?"

"Hey, kids! Took you long enough!" Everyone saw Nano walking their way. "Our grand opening is coming soon and this place needs to shine! And I mean shine like a brand new star in space! Let's get going!"

Nano gave a chore to each of them. Dawn was in charge of cleaning the windows, Hillary was putting up standees, Heather vacuumed, leaving Ashley and Fangula in charge of dusting.

Ashley saw Nano carry in a big cardboard box then left to get more boxes.

Curious, Ashley walked over to the box and opened it, her face lit up. "Wow! I can't believe it!"

"What is it?" Fangula asked as he came up to her.

"This box is full of Beetleborgs comics!" Ashley practically squealed.

Fangula blinked in shock when he heard the word 'Beetleborgs'.

When he looked down, he saw that Ashley was right. The box was filled with perfectly placed comic books in plastic sleeves that read 'Beetleborgs' and 'Beetleborgs Metallix.'

Ashley took one out that said 'Beetleborgs Metallix.' and had three distinct characters on the cover. One was wearing gold armor that was modeled after a Japanese rhinoceros beetle, one had shiny purple armor and modeled after a ladybug, and the last had silver armor that resembled a stag beetle.

"I can't believe it! There must be even more issues!" she said, filled with joy.

Fangula looked over at Ashley, but it was a rather dismayed look.

"This was my favorite comic book growing up!" Ashley explained to her boyfriend. "Ever since I was a kid, I would visit Zoom Comics every week to see if the new issue was out!" She pointed to the purple comic character. "The Purple Platinum Beetleborg and the Red Striker Beetleborg has always been my favorite! They're actually the same character, Red Striker got a makeover when the Metallix issues came out."

"And you better stop drooling over them and help Nano with the rest of these boxes!" Heather called from the other side of the store.

Dawn gave Fangula a nudge. "I hope you weren't too weirded out by Ashley's fangasm, Biff." she chuckled.

"No, he wasn't and there's nothing wrong with the Beetleborgs!" Ashley protested. "Those guys were actual superheroes! Like, REAL LIFE superheroes! They were the best!"

"I know," Fangula replied in a distant voice. "They were the absolute best..."

The girls looked at him, surprised by his words. But only Ashley noticed that when he spoke, his voice had a hint of sadness.

Once the boxes were taken care of, Ashley and Fangula had to clean the restroom. Now that they were alone, Ashley asked, "So, spill it. How do you know about the Beetleborgs?"

But the vampire turned the other way. "I don't want to talk about it..."

"Fang, I've noticed you've been acting a bit strange lately. And you're not going to feel any better unless you get it off your chest."

A long silence came between the two.

Finally, Count Fangula gave in. "It was fifteen years ago. A trio of kids came to Hillhurst on a dare. We tried to eat them-"

"Wait a minute!" Ashley interrupted. "What do you mean 'eat them'?!"

The vampire went on. "but they got away from us. That's when they released Flabber when he was trapped inside the pipe organ."

"Flabber was trapped in the organ?!"

"That's right, and those three kids set him free. In gratitude, Flabber offered to grant them one wish..."

"And that wish was?" Ashley pressed on.

"To become their favorite superheroes, the Beetleborgs."

"What?!" Ashley shouted, but not too loud. "Are you trying to say...that the Beetleborgs were kids?!"

"Exactly." Fangula answered. "And despite being superheroes, we couldn't stand those kids. We would always try to eat them, but they would always get away from us."

Ashley noticed that the vampire's words were beginning to sound even more sad, so she asked, "But if you never liked them, why does it sound like you miss them?"

Fangula was hesitant at first, "Because something happened we thought would never even occur to us..."


	14. Chapter 14: The End Of The Beetleborgs

**Charterville, 1998**

The sun was about to set in Charterville at the Hillhurst Mansion, three children entered the old house. A boy with short blonde hair, brown eyes, a blue plaid shirt and jean shorts.

The second was a girl with brownish blonde hair and had the blonde boy's eyes. She had a red t-shirt and white shorts and wore a ball cap on backwards.

And the third and tallest one was an African American boy wearing a green flannel shirt under a white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

As soon as they stepped inside, the Hillhurst monsters rushed in with their fangs bared and growling, but the kids weren't even remotely fazed.

"Well, looks like out dinner's arrived, boys!" Mums cackled.

Frankenbeans growled, Wolfie bared his fangs and drooled, and Count Fangula hissed and snarled.

The blonde boy sighed and shook his head. "You guys just don't get it, do you?"

"Drew's right." said the girl. "You guys have been chasing us all around the house ever since we set foot in it. Why can't you just leave us alone?!"

"That's an easy one!" Fangula said. "It's as plain as the blood in your veins. We, hate you!"

"Yeah!" the monsters agreed.

Then Flabber stepped into the scene. "The kids are right, you guys. You could be a little nicer to them. After all they've done for us."

"Done for us...?" Fangula said under his breath, his face cracked into anger, and he wasn't the only one. The rest of the monsters got angry like raging volcanoes.

"DONE FOR US?!" the four creatures shouted, making the phasm and humans flinch.

"Ever since they walked through that door, all they've ever done for us is make our lives miserable!" Mums shouted.

"He's right!" Fangula said. "You brats have been nothing but trouble from the beginning! With your stupid little comic books and letting Flabber out of that organ! Becoming the Beetleborgs and having Mangavors and Crustaceans and comic book creatures wrecking havoc and driving us insane!"

"But Fang!" Flabber pleaded.

"You stay out of this!" the vampire snapped. He faced the three kids. "If you blood bags would have just stayed away from Hillhurst, everyone in this world would have been better off!"

"Yeah! What he said!" Frankenbeans roared.

"Rararararararararara!" Wolfie barked.

"I couldn't agree more." said the count.

"Translation?" Flabber asked.

"He said that we should settle this right now!"

The girl rolled her eyes before cracking her knuckles. "This shouldn't take more than a second..."

The tall friend put hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't bother, Jo. They're not worth it."

"Roland's right." said Drew. "They never were."

Now that made the monsters erupt, they began chasing the kids all around the house.

After a few minutes of chasing, the kids left the house, hopped on their bikes, and peddled away.

Little did they know that an evil presence was watching them from behind a tree.

* * *

Back inside Hillhurst, the monsters were playing at the pool table.

"Those kids have some nerve saying we're worthless." Mums said as sunk an eight ball.

"I say we put an end to this humiliation, for good!" Fangula said.

"Rararara?" Wolfie barked.

"Wolfie's right, Flabber will just get in our way. Not to mention the kids's powers." Fangula translated. "If we have to get to the kids, we need to get Flabber and somehow fix those beetle powers out of the kids. Otherwise, they'll have the last laugh, again!"

"And we can't have that." a voice purred.

The monsters turned around and jumped back in fear, running backwards into the farthest corner of the room.

Standing before them was a woman wearing green battle armor that resembled a mantis. She had pale skin, blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. She smirked seeing the monsters cower in her presence.

"Horribelle!" Count Fangula shouted. "What are you doing here?!"

"Yeah! Shouldn't you be doing evil stuff with Nukus or something?!" Mums added. "Get lost! Unless you wanna throw down!

"Don't get your bandages in a bunch." Horribelle scoffed. "Who wants to waste their strength on a pack of losers like you?"

"You want to lose your blood?!" Fangula snarled.

But Horribelle just walked up to the weary vampire. "Now, Count. We are more alike than you think. I've been rooting for you monsters to eat those Beetlebrats all along."

The monsters were shocked to hear this from Nukus's right hand woman.

Horribelle leaned in closer to Fangula, who was feeling a bit uneasy. She looked at him with an innocent face "I'm especially a big fan of yours, Count Fangula."

"Wha..." Fangula gasped, feeling a bit flustered. "Oh, how nice." He chuckled along with the mantis woman.

The monsters just stared seeing these two get so chummy.

"I'd rather be chased by villagers than see this..." Mums said.

"You monsters have such potential, still those thimble-sized brats outwit you every time. But now that we've had out little tit for tat, I'm here to help. Why don't we join forces?"

"WHAAAT?!" the monsters exclaimed.

"You see, now that Les Fortunes is back in the clink and Boron is with the kiddies, we have no more monsters to defeat the Beetleborgs with. So we thought, why not have real monsters help us defeat them?"

"Are you nuts?!" Mums shot back. "If we join you and let you punks beat those kids, you'll just go ahead and take over the world!"

Horribelle raised her armored hand. "Don't have a conniption. My colleagues and I talked this over. We've decided to give up on world domination and focus on eliminating those meddling kids once and for all. So, if we win, you get the kids and we get our revenge!"

"Hold on, why would you just give up on taking over the world?" Fangula asked.

Horribelle crossed her arms. "Because his world is such a bore. Taking over this pathetic place would be a waste of our precious talents. After the brats are wiped out and all gobbled up, we're going back to the second dimension were we belong. So, do we have a deal?"

"Huddle!" Fangula shouted.

The monsters gathered together and whispered amongst themselves while Horribelle tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for those monsters to agree.

"Break!" the monsters broke apart.

Count Fangula went up to Horribelle.

There was a pause.

A sickening smirk appeared on the vampire's face. He held out his gloved hand. "Deal."

Horribelle returned the smirk and shook Fangula's hand. "And I've already devised a plan. So listen up..."

* * *

In the now the early evening. In the parlor, Flabber was laying on the couch having a little nap. But his eyes snapped open when he heard three notes coming from his beloved pipe organ.

Before he could say a word, Flabber started to scream when he felt himself being pulled toward the organ! The blue phasm was sucked into the organ pipes.

In front of the organ, Wolfie cackled, satisfied with his results.

"Well done, Wolfgang." Fangula walked in and stroked the werewolf's head. "Now, for phase two." The vampire took out a cell phone and dialed the number for Zoom Comics.

"Hello?" It was Roland.

Fangula changed his voice to have it sound exactly like Flabber's. "Roland, it's Flabber! I need you and the kids here right now! It's an emergency!"

"Okay, Flabber! We're on our way!"

Fangula smiled and hung up the phone. "Little Ghoul, how's it coming?"

The small hooded ghoul came in and placed something right in the middle of the room. "All ready!"

Horribelle arrived on the scene, looking quite impressed. "I must say, Fangula. I never thought I'd say this, but you really surprised me."

"I couldn't agree more." the count replied, he took Horribelle's hand. "How about a pizza with me after we finish the kids?

Horribelle mused at the vampire's offer. "We'll talk more over the pepperoni. But right now, let's focus on the mission here." she reminded him.

A few minutes later, the kids came in.

"Flabber!" Drew called. "Where are you?"

"In the parlor, kids!"

The kids heard the phasm's voice and went inside the parlor, but were confused when they discovered Flabber was nowhere to be found.

Then something caught Jo's eye. "Hey, what's that?"

She walked over and picked up the object Little Ghoul left on the ground. "It's a Beetleborgs comic."

Joe opened the comic, as soon as she did, a huge flash of white light burst from the pages.

"AAAAAAAH!"

The three children screamed as their bodies glowed. Drew's body glowed gold, Jo's glowed purple, and Roland was glowing silver.

The colors left their bodies as they continued to cry out in pain, then the bright auras swirled in the air and shot right into the comic book's light. The book stopped glowing as it fell to the ground.

Drew, Jo, and Roland collapsed, unconscious and out cold.

Three figures materialized into the parlor before the children, one being Horribelle, the other a blue fish-based creature and a menacing, powerful warrior modeled after a red triceratops.

They were none other than the Crustaceans themselves.

The five monsters came into the parlor as well.

The dinosaur-like man released a maniacal laugh. "To think, the Beetleborgs would actually fall for such an obvious trap!"

"Indeed, Nukus!" said the fish-man. "I never thought I'd see the day the children would finally fall!"

The Crustaceans looked over to the monsters, especially Little Ghoul. "I never thought that all it took was a simple spell to end them." Horribelle mused.

Little Ghoul held up Flabber's phasm book. "Well, since the kids got their powers from Flabber, all you need is a phasm book and the right counter spell."

"I must say, I guess we've underestimated you monsters." Nukus said. "I used to think you were all a bunch of pathetic weaklings..."

All of a sudden, Nukus pulled out his sword and fired a powerful blast of red energy at the monsters, blasting them all the way across the room.

The Crustaceans joined in a group laugh.

"But now we know you're not only weak, but dense as well!" Nukus coldly remarked. He grabbed Drew by the collar of his shirt and held his blade dangerously close to the boy's throat. "And now, the first thing to go is the leader."

Suddenly, the comic book opened again and shined the same bright light.

"Ah!" Nukus yelped, letting Drew go as he did. "What's going on?!"

Vilor and Horribelle started to tremble, they struggled to keep their balance.

As soon as Nukus noticed this, he began to tremble as well. "What's..."

"...happening..." Horribelle cried.

"...to us?!" Vilor shouted.

The monsters got up and looked at the Crustaceans with smiles on their faces.

Count Fangula grinned his toothy grin. "You didn't actually think we'd trust you that easy, did you, Crustaceans?"

"It's true that we hate the kids..." Mums said. "but we hate you even more!"

"So, I've taken the liberty exploiting a loophole." Little Ghoul chirped. "Not only are the Beetleborgs gone... BUT YOU GUYS TOO!" The young ghoul shrilled a viscous cackle.

The villains's bodies each glowed their respective colors as the light grew brighter.

Horribelle cried out as she was the first one to be sucked back in the comic, followed by Vilor while the last Crustacean looked on in horror.

Enraged, Nukus reached out to the monsters as a final attempt to strike, but it was in vain.

"Curse you, Hillhurst monsters!" Nukus roared. "CURSE YOOOOOOOOOOU!"

His cry faded away as Nukus was the last to be gone.

The comic closed and the light died down.

Nukus, the evil overlord of the second dimension along with his commanders, the Crustaceans, were sent back into the comics.

"Alright!" Fangula cheered. "We did it!"

Mums jumped in the air. "We beat the Crustaceans!"

"Arrrroooooo!" Wolfie howled for joy. He went up to the organ and played three notes on the keys.

The pipes contorted as if they were alive, and Flabber was shot straight out of the pipes.

Flabber blinked in confusion, he shook his head and looked around and gasped seeing the kids just laying on the ground.

The phasm went to their aid. "Kids! Kids! Speak to me!"

His cries eventually caused the kids to stir. They slowly got up and rubbed their heads, trying to collect their thoughts.

"What happened?" asked Drew.

"What's going on?" said Jo.

"How did we get here?" Roland wondered.

"Don't look at me." Flabber replied. "I was just taking a nap and the next thing I know, I woke up to find you kids here!"

"Looks like you guys partied too hard."

The four friends looked over and saw the monsters looking happy as clowns.

"Alright, what's going on?" Jo demanded. "What are you monsters up to?"

"Relax, kid. Cool your jets." Mums said, surprisingly calm.

"Nice setup, but no chase today." Fangula assured the kids. "We're not hungry anymore."

The monsters left the room without another word, leaving Flabber and the kids even more confused.

"What was that all about?" Drew said.


	15. Chapter 15: World Of Darkness

"And ever since that night, the Beetleborgs got their well deserved retirement. They didn't ask any questions. All they knew was, they were happy to have their normal lives back. And once they were all grown up, they left for college." explained Fangula to Ashley.

Ashley stared at Fangula, not only did he know the Beetleborgs, but Flabber brought them to life?!

Then a few tears began to stream from the vampire's eyes. "But that was three years ago, and we haven't seen them since."

Ashley looked at her boyfriend in a sympathetic manner.

"Drew, Joe, Roland..." Ashley muttered, questioningly. Her lips parted slightly in surprise. "You can't be serious."

"Why? Do you know them?" Fangula asked.

"Yeah," answered Ashley. "Drew was Heather's girlfriend and Joe was Drew's sister, and Roland was Nano's grandson. The last time we heard from them was also three years ago. When a search party investigated, it was called off and they were reported missing."

A broad look of shock came to Fangula's face. "Missing?!"

"Yeah, they just disappeared. No one could find them anywhere."

Fangula's fists tightened and his eyes flashed. "Children don't. Just. DISAPPEAR!" he roared.

"SHH!" Ashley hushed him and covered his mouth. "Keep it down, I know you're upset, but you've got to keep this on the down low."

Still seething, Fangula closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "But still, what could have happened to them?"

"Don't worry, Baby." Ashley assured him, giving him a peck on the cheek. "They're as tough as nails from being the Beetleborgs, right? I know they'll be just fine, wherever they are."

The two stopped talking when a knock came to the door. "Hey, what's going on in there? What's keeping you kids?"

"Come on, better not keep Nano waiting." said Ashley. "It's the last mistake anyone will ever make."

Ashley was almost out the door, but she looked Fangula looking down. Ashley put a hand on his shoulder. "Tell you what, when we get home, I'll use a spell to find them."

"You will?!" Fangula gasped.

Ashley nodded. "Of course. I won't rest until they're found."

The couple hugged each other and shared a warm, loving kiss.

"Alright, get a room you two." Nano said, poking her head the door. "Oh wait, you already have one!" she laughed.

"Nano!" Ashley shouted, embarrassed. Fangula just shook his head.

* * *

Everyone left the store. Dawn was the first to notice something strange. "Why's it so dark out here?!"

Not too long ago, it was a bright sunny day without a cloud in the sky. But it looked like it was night time! The sky was dark as night, the clouds were dark as night, but according to Dawn's GPS synchrozined wristwatch, it was only three o'clock in the afternoon.

Hillary cleaned her glasses real good, then put them back on her face. She blinked twice, "Maybe...it's just really thick storm clouds...or an eclipse."

Ashley and Fangula shared a shocked expression, they had a pretty good idea that something magical was behind this.

"Guys, I think we should head home..." Ashley said, suddenly nervous.

"What's the matter, Ashley? Scared of the dark?" Nano joked.

"I'm pretty sure she's serious, Nano." Fangula replied sternly.

"I know!" Hillary exclaimed. "It's an eclipse! It has to be!"

"Eclipse or not, we better get back to the cabin." Ashley said rather impatient.

Dawn suspiciously eyed her friend. "Ashley, is something wrong?"

"No! No, nothing's wrong!" she replied. She hurried over to her black van. "Let's get a move on, people!"

"Not so fast!" Nano shouted in anger. "Where's my bike?! It's not here!"

Everyone flinched under Nano's rage, her motorcycle was pretty much her whole life, next to comic books and Karate.

That's when an engine started to rev up, When they saw where it was coming from, everyone, save for Ashley and Fangula were in shock.

It was Nano's motorcycle. It was fired up and it's headlight was shining right at them

But there was one problem: It was driving by itself.

Quicker than Nano could speak, the living bike sped right towards Nano. She dodged it in time but the bike swerved sharply and came for Nano again, it was too fast for Nano to dodge. She was a deer in the headlight.

The old woman felt herself picked up and saved in a split second, she looked and saw it was 'Biff' who saved her.

"EVERYONE INSIDE!" Ashley ordered. "NOW!"

Everyone piled up in the car and Ashley stepped on it, with the demented bike coming after them.

"What is going on?!" Dawn wailed.

Ashley didn't respond. She just kept her hands on the wheel and her eyes on the road. Seeing the darkened town was now deserted, Ashley's fear grew worse and worse.

Ashley slammed the brakes when the evil motorcycle came in front of them, she stopped just in time.

The bike began to shift and contort itself as if it were breathing, then it actually grew in size! It's handlebars morphed into a pair of huge, leathery, claw-like hands. It's back wheel split apart to create two wheels, the headlight morphed into a single glowing slit eye. Finally, a huge metal mouth with sharp, monstrous teeth morphed under it's evil eye.

Ashley had to do this, revealing her secret will be a small price to pay, but it'll be worth it to save her friends and herself. Ashley removed her magic key necklace, took the regular key out of the ignition and replaced it with her magical one. She gave it a turn and it glowed it's famous green glow.

The van was lifting itself off the ground and flew over the monster cycle. But the mad machine grabbed the car and hurled it across like a forward pass.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ashley as well as everyone else screamed, tumbling around inside the vehicle.

Knowing she had to get control, Ashley steered the wheel hard and floored it, heading straight up into the sky.

As Ashley drove through the dark sky, she tried to piece together what exactly is going on. It became night in the daytime, then Nano's cycle came to life and turned into a monster, what could have caused this?

"We gotta get back to Hillhurst!" Fangula said.

_'Go to the castle...'_

"What castle?!" Ashley shouted to no one. It was the ghost woman, Ashley was angry hearing her voice. The last time she did, she ignored her warning, and there's no doubt in her mind that it caused all this.

"What are you talking about?!" Fangula shot back.

Heather pointed at something. "Look!"

Ashley looked through the windshield and gasped. There was a castle resting on a patch of dark clouds. Ashley remembers that castle! It was Creepinshire Castle from Halloween Hallow! The witch floored towards the castle and parked in front of it. She and Fangula exited the vehicle.

Nano and the rest of the girls got out right behind them. "Ashley, you better have a good reason for all of this!"

Ashley could feel the rage from Nano's throat. "Relax, Nano. Madame Ivory will explain everything."

"Who's that?" Hillary asked, practically shaking.

"A fortune teller. I'll explain later."

"No, Ashley."

Ashley looked over and saw Heather looking at her so coldly. "You're going to explain everything right now!" she demanded.

"Not out here you're not." a voice said.

Everyone looked and saw a black-haired beauty emerge from the castle. She wore a silky, purple hooded cloak, with skin as pale and smooth as Fangula's that contrasted her blood red lips and dark eyes.

Heather, Nano, Dawn, and Hillary stood there, mouths agape. They were taken back by this woman's striking beauty.

"Madame Ivory!" Ashley exclaimed. It was indeed Madame Ivory, the fortune teller. But she wasn't looking at Ashley, she smiled warmly at something else, her eyes began to water.

Ashley followed her gaze - and saw Count Fangula take a step back. His mouth dropped open in surprise. He locked his stare on the woman. "Mother?!" he cried. "What are you doing here?!"

"MOTHER?!" Ashley shouted in shock.

Madame Ivory smiled wider at him. "My son, I've missed you!" She rushed forward and threw her arms around the vampire. She hugged him for a long time.

Ashley just stared at them, unable to get over her shock. "Fang, this is your mother?" she asked in a trembling voice. If this was his mother, then that means she's a vampire as well.

Fangula turned to her. "Yes, but how do you know her?! And why did you call her Madame Ivory?!"

The woman pulled from her son. "Now, now. Everyone! I'm sure you have a million questions, let's go inside where we can talk properly."

Ashley looked back to her friends. They all looked on in shock. Ashley heaved a heavy sigh. "I know, I have some explaining to do. Come on."


	16. Chapter 16: Witch Of The West Coast

Everyone entered the dark and gloomy castle, they entered the first entranceway and the first thing Ashley saw almost made her scream. It was Irene sitting on a long couch.

They all took a seat, and together, Ashley and Fangula told the entire story. How Ashley stumbled upon Hillhurst and met the monsters, and was frightened at first, but calmed down after they comforted her and saved her from Damien and saved Hillhurst from being demolished. They also told them about their adventure in Halloween Hollow and the vampire and werewolf that attacked them.

Then Ashley explained her being a witch and Biff Bloodman's real name was Count Fangula, a vampire, a creature of the night, and Ashley's boyfriend. And in case they didn't believe them, Ashley conjured magic in her palms and Fangula showed them his fangs, revealing their true natures.

"And that's how it all happened." Ashley finished.

"We're sorry we didn't tell you." Fangula said. "We just thought you wouldn't understand. Or you weren't ready yet."

Ashley and Fangula looked at the humans, who were still a little shocked.

"Wow..." Dawn breathed. "you're a witch?"

Ashley nodded.

"And you're a vampire?!" Hillary asked.

Fangula nodded.

Irene stood. Looming over Ashley with such a menacing aura. "And you've been dating this vampire and you never told me?!"

Ashley moved close to Fangula, afraid of her mother's outrage.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

The young witch swallowed hard. "W-Well, I-"

"I'm just surprised you didn't trust me enough to tell me." Irene told her, her voice rising.

"I didn't think you'd understand." Ashley replied, honesty. "I was going to tell you all once you got to know Fangula a little better. But that plan's out the window..."

"Well..." Dawn started, everyone looked at her, awaiting her response. "if you two love each other that much, then I've got no complaints." She smiled at the couple, Fangula and Ashley grinned.

"I'm with you on that." Hillary said with a push of her glasses. "How many people have a witch for a friend? Who has a boyfriend that's a vampire?!" She sounded rather excited than scared.

Nano crossed her arms though. "Well..."

Everyone braced themselves.

The woman exhaled a breath. "Fine. But you keep your fangs to yourself and away from our necks or it's my knuckles for lunch! You get me?!"

"Y-Yes, Ma'am." Fangula said, scooting closer to Ashley, who just shook her head. Even when encountering a vampire for the first time, Nano was still tough as nails, which is good to know.

Then Ashley turned to attention to someone else. "Heather?"

But the friend wasn't so friendly, she had a cold, unpleasant look at the witch. "I'm going to have to think about this, Ashley."

"Me too." said Irene, who shared Heather's unfeeling look.

That was like salt in an open wound for Ashley.

Madame Ivory saw the witch's sorrowful disposition, "I think you should be more open minded to your daughter's choices, Ms. Deacon"

Irene glared at the vampiress straight in the eye. "You have no right to speak here. This is between us."

"There is more to this than you think." Madame Ivory reached into her robe and took out a crystal ball. "This is what's going on in Charterville now."

A foggy mist swirled in the crystal ball. When the smog cleared, everyone's eyes widened, Ashley moved closer to the crystal.

Through the glass, they saw mobs of wolves, running through the darkened city of Charterville. Some ran on all fours while some were running on two legs. Which only meant one thing,

Those were werewolves.

Terrified people ran through the streets as the beasts chased after them. One werewolf lunges at a man and bites him on the leg. He screamed in pain, then his body started to shiver. Thick hair started to form on his arms and his nails became sharp and long as talons. His body hunched over, becoming more animal like as more fur grew on his body.

Then the man stopped quivering and pulled himself up. He was now a werewolf. He howled, the sign that confirmed his transformation.

"An army of werewolves?" Count Fangula said softly, not believing his eyes. "How can that be?!"

"Because of her, my son." Madame Ivory waved her hand over the crystal ball, changing it to another image. It showed a young woman with long jet black hair wearing a long black dress with long, wide sleeves, an uneven hem, red trim, and a high slit. Her eyes were glowing red and bright as stop lights.

"BRITNEY?!" Ashley, Dawn and Hillary shouted all together.

It was Britney Chambers, she was atop a building watching the pure pandemonium below her.

"She's not the cause of this." said Ivory with a shake of her head. "She is."

The vampire showed another woman who was standing next to Britney, when they saw her face, Fangula felt faint.

"Oh, no..."

It was the woman from his nightmare, exactly how she appeared.

She wore a long black satin gown that touches the ground with flowing black sleeves. She had a sickly pale face and curly, messy brown hair piled on top of her head. She held a black lace parasol over her.

Ashley looked over to her boyfriend. He looked absolutely terrified.

"Fang, who is that?"

His lips started to tremble. "M-My...My..."

Fangula watched the woman smile and let out a shrill, unnatural cackle. It made the hairs on the back of Ashley's neck stand on end. Ashley felt her heart stop when she saw the woman's fangs.

"She's a vampire too?" Dawn said in a whisper.

"S-S-She's..." Fangula stuttered. "my ex-wife."

Ashley felt like she took a bullet right through the heart.

"U-Uh..." was all she could say. She started to shake, still in shock by what she just heard. Ashley and Fangula looked over at Madame Ivory.

"Mother?" Fangula said. That was all he needed to say. She knew what he was going to ask.

The mother vampire gave a sigh. "I think we need to start from the beginning." she said. "The very beginning. Ashley, there's a reason why you are a witch. There's actually quite a history to it. And I think it's time you knew."

This was going to be a long story, Ashley and Fangula held each other's hand tightly. Madame Ivory took a seat, and began telling the story.

From the very beginning...


	17. Chapter 17: Love At First Fright

**Transylvania, 1889**

* * *

It was a partly cloudy day in the Romanian countryside, a horse-driven carriage arrived in a village deep within the mountains. The carriage continued to travel through the town. It was only a few minutes before the carriage pulled over at the foot of a small hill, which had a large Victorian-style mansion that overlooked the village.

The coach driver came off his seat and opened the door for his passengers.

The first to step out was an elderly elegant dressed man wearing a grey suit over a silver vest with a blue tie and black dress shoes. He stroked his beard, "Evelyn, we've arrived, daughter."

His daughter came out after her father. She was an 18 year old teenage girl, with light skin and a slim, slender figure. She had long ginger red hair and eyes as green as fresh grass. She wore an ankle-length green pinafore dress over a white blouse with shkrt liffy sleeves with brown shoes. She looked up at the house, a little smile formed. The servants came out of the house and attended to their bags.

"Now be careful with the luggage. It's all expensive." he told the servants.

"Yes, Mr. Hillhurst."

Mr. Hillhurst smiled at his daughter. "Come along, Evelyn. Out new life beings now!"

"Yes, Father." said Evelyn. Once she saw the house again, her smile disappeared.

After getting all settled in, Mr. Hillhurst and Evelyn waited in the sitting room for their guests.

The butler arrived on cue, "Mr. Nussbaum have arrived, Sir."

The servant stepped aside and a tall, extremely slender man walked in. He had an athletic build under a beige waistcoat trimmed with gold fabric and matching trousers and shoes. His long blonde hair was in a ponytail. His brown eyes looked warmly at the young girl sitting with her father.

"Ah, sweetest Evelyn." he greeted. "How good to see you my love. And it's always wonderful to see you, Mr. Hillhurst."

Mr. Hillhurst got up and shook the young man's hand. "Nathaniel Nussbam, a pleasure to see you again, my boy!" He turned to Evelyn. "Dear, we're going to practice our vows for the wedding. So be ready!"

Evelyn smiled. "Yes, Father."

* * *

Night had fallen, after reciting their vows and having a lovely dinner. Evelyn retired to her room and locked the door behind her. Once she knew she was all alone, she pointed at herself and zapped, changing her clothes into a long back gown and a pointed witch's hat. With a snap of her fingers, a broomstick appeared in her hand. She used her magic to open the window and fly out into the darkness.

Evelyn soared through the night until she reached a foggy patch in the forest. She landed safely on the ground. She gathered magic in her hand, touched a large stone, and activated a secret passageway in the ground. It was a hidden stairway. Evelyn walked don the stairs as the passage closed behind her.

The witch walked down a dark stairway until she saw a light at the end. When he came down, there was a large village of twisted, misshapen houses. Walking amongst the street were various witches and warlocks shopping for supplies and chatting with others. Evelyn kept walking until she arrived at the large castle that towered over the village. Most of the witches were entering the building.

Evelyn entered the town hall and took her seat, anticipating the big announcement on the hall's stage. All of the witches eyed Evelyn with cold stares, she hunkered lower in her seat. In a world of wicked witches and Evelyn being a good witch, it wasn't easy for her.

With a loud poof, a woman appeared in a cloud of red sparkly dust, wearing a sapphire blue dress with a black hooded cape. "Attention, all witches!" she announced. "We recently heard from our surveillance that a pack of vampires is close within our territory."

As soon as she said the word 'vampire', gasps and mutters filled the hall. The vampire was the witches's greatest enemy.

Evelyn's eyes were wide, filled with fear. As the kind and fair witch that she is, she had one weakness: She was terrified of vampires. Even the sight of a bat would make her break out in cold sweat, fearing it to be a vampire in disguise. Luckily for her, she never had to face one of those horrifying creatures.

But that was all about to change.

"We must stop these monsters before our domain is overrun! We need volunteers to help in our plan to capture one!"

No one made a sound, Evelyn wanted to scream in terror as she slowly stood, she felt her knees begin to buckle with fright.

To the townpeople's shock, Evelyn stood up and raised her hand. "Grand witch, I shall go forth and assist you in capturing this vampire!"

The grand witch smiled nobly. "Thank you, Evelyn. We begin our quest now!"

"Now?!" Evelyn exclaimed. The beautiful young witch was certainly in trouble.

* * *

Deep within the misty and gothic regions of the Transylvania wilderness, high upon a mountain hilltop, was Creepinshire Castle. The luminous moon shined eerily over it as low howling was heard through the air.

Inside the castle, a male figure walked down a blackened narrow hallway, dressed in a black suit and cape with a neck collar that reached the back of his head. On the blood red walls were various portraits of monstrous, vampire-like beings.

The shadowed figure's eyes narrowed as he approached a large wooden door. As soon as he walked up to it, the door opened by itself, letting him in. He waked into a stone chamber room and approached a wooden coffin placed in the middle of the room, stepping out of the shadows as he revealed himself.

It was a man who appeared to be in his late 30's or so with a slim, yet muscular figure. He had pale skin, with combed back black hair with a streak of white on the left side, a black pointed mustache, beard, and sideburns. He had striking silver eyes, wearing an elegant black and white tailcoat, handsome vest, black and white floor length cape held with chained brooches, and a white ruffle cravat.

He was well poised as he loomed over the coffin and knocked on the lid. "Arise, my son. The moon is calling us forth." he said in a Romanian accent.

The coffin lid slowly creaked open, a ghostly white hand lifted the lid. It belonged to a young man who looked like he was 20, with very pale skin and spiky black hair with the same white streak as his father. He wore black dress pants and shoes, a red vest over a white button down.

He frowned as he opened his eyes at the elder vampire. "Tell the moon to come back tomorrow night." And he shut the lid down.

Scowling, the vampire used his telekinesis to lift up the coffin, turn it over and shake it up and down. "You are going out to prowl, Count Fangula!" he snapped, not sounding so poised and regal anymore. He pulled out a collard cape from his own cape and handed it to his son.

Count Fangula crashed onto the floor. He growled as he picked himself up. "Hey, I had a hard day's sleep, y'know."

He snatched the cape out of his father's hands, drapped the cape over his shoulders, and assumed his bat form, flying away.

* * *

In the dark forest, Evelyn and the grand witch ventured through. Evelyn looked over her shoulder every few steps. "What now, Grand witch?" She gripped onto the lei of garlic around her neck.

"We must be cautious, the vampire could strike any minute." said the witch. "Wait here." The grand witch left Evelyn's side and walked around a tree, walking further into the wood.

Now Evelyn felt extremely frightened, if only she knew a spell to keep herself from shivering. She looked over her shoulder another time, and saw a handsome gentleman standing before her.

Sasha froze. She didn't move an inch. She could only stare. This was the most beautiful man she has ever seen in her entire life.

It was Count Fangula. He simply smiled as his eyes began to glow golden. Evelyn gasped, it was too late. She stared into his eyes as they glowed like jewels, mesmerized.

"Now, remove your lei of garlic, please." commanded the vampire.

Evelyn obeyed and removed her only protection, Fangula leaned in towards her neckline with his sharp fangs closing in.

* * *

"Ooooh, my head. What happened?" Evelyn said as she found herself lying on a bed, surrounded by witches dressed in white. They were nurses.

"Everything's fine, Dear." said a nurse. "You were just hypnotized by a vampire."

"VAMPIRE?!" Evelyn squealed and backed against the bed. "Where is he?! Did he bite me?! He bit me, didn't he?!" She felt around her neck for any wounds.

"Now, now! Relax, child! The vampire didn't harm you. We just released you from his trance. You're perfectly fine."

Evelyn exhaled a huge sigh, beyond relieved. "Then where is he?"

"The creature is in the tower's dungeon for questioning." explained the nurse.

With that said, Evelyn got up and headed for the tower. When she arrived, she made her way to the dungeon doors.

"Ah, Evelyn. You're awake."

Evelyn turned around and saw the grand witch herself. "Thank you for your assistance."

The young witch was confused. "Assistance? But I didn't do anything! I let that awful beast hypnotize me!"

"Which is exactly what I planned. If there's one thing a vampire craves more than anything, it's the blood of a witch. While you distracted him, I used a powerful potion mixed with garlic and holy water to seize him." she explained with a cold smile.

Evelyn was exasperated. "You mean you were using me as bait?!" she shouted. "Are you mad?! What if I got killed?!"

"Then it was a price you were willing to make." said the Grand witch as she walked past Evelyn, she willed the door open and entered, Evelyn followed.

"Now listen here!" Evelyn said. "You can't just take someone and use them to attract a horrible, monstrous-"

Then Evelyn gasped, pausing her anger and her words.

There, in the cold, dank room, was Count Fangula cuffed to a large metal cross. All that was left of his magnificent clothes was his shredded white button shirt that was torn open, exposing his thin, slender figure. His pants were torn badly as well. Around his neck was a lei of garlic that weakened him.

Evelyn actually felt bad for him, seeing him so weak and defeated.

He slowly lifted his head, and once he saw Evelyn, he hissed at her, his eyes glowing red with rage. Evelyn yelped and stepped back, deathly afraid of him.

The Grand witch began to show her out. "Now then, run along Evelyn. The council and I will see to this evil creature." And she slammed the door behind her.

Relieved she was no longer in the room with the vampire, Evelyn ran out of the tower and didn't look back, not even once.

* * *

The next morning at the mansion, Evelyn's father noticed his daughter in a sort of daze. "Are you alright, Evelyn?"

"Oh, I'm fine, Father. I just had a nightmare last night..."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that." Then her father immediately changed the subject. "Anyway, in a few days, Nathaniel and his family will arrive to plan the wedding, understood?"

"I understand."

Despite understanding this, Evelyn was not looking forward to this wedding. She had no interest in Nathaniel Nussbaum. He was a rather rude and bombastic man. It was then that the vampire entered her mind. It was strange, but when her eyes saw him for the first time, she felt something. Something she never felt before. And it felt wonderful.

For the remainder of the day, Evelyn's thoughts were still stuck on that vampire. When the sun had set, Evelyn decided enough's enough. She hopped on her broomstick and flew to the Witches Village.


	18. Chapter 18: A Witch Is Born

Evelyn arrived unseen at Witches Village. She observed the tower hall, she decided a little magic could get her to see the vampire undetected. She gathered magic in her hands, closed her eyes, and recited.

_"To see the vampire locked inside,_

_take me to the chamber where he resides."_

She waved her hands up and teleported with a green poof. She appeared in the chamber and saw the imprisoned vampire.

Slightly taken aback by her entrance, but recovered and growled at Evelyn. "What are you doing here?"

Evelyn was nervous, but it didn't stop her. Seeing the undead creature in such terrible shape, she felt bad for him. She swallowed. "Uh, my name is Evelyn. Who are you?"

He frowned. "Like I told the other witches, I will not talk." Cold bitterness were in his words.

The witch shook her head. "I'm not with those witches, I just want to talk to you."

She walked up to him, but Fangula hissed at her. His snarling was seized when he gagged from the fumes of garlic around his neck. "I'm too weak." he wheezed. "You vile witch, I'll eat you alive!"

But Evelyn wasn't scared, not anymore. There was something about him that didn't make him all that scary. She looked at him straight in the eye and asked, "Are you really a vampire?"

Fangula's mouth parted, but paused when he looked into Evelyn's emerald orbs. When his eyes met hers, a wave of wonder and amaze washed over him. And Evelyn was the same. Just by being each other sent the two in such bliss.

Finally, Fangula found his voice. "Y-Yes, I am." He kept staring at Evelyn.

Evelyn looked at him for a moment, then leaned closer to him and put an ear to his chest.

Fangula jumped in his bonds. "What are you doing?!" he said, nervous and flustered.

The witch listened carefully to his upper chest for a minute or so until she gasped a little, her eyes wide. "There's no heartbeat." Evelyn said, she shivered a little. "You really are undead..."

But Evelyn noticed something else, while she moved her head, she saw the vampire's body shiver and shake. She realized her hair was brushing against his chest.

Evelyn pulled away and grazed her fingers down his side, she watched Fangula close his mouth tightly while he shivered.

The witch drew her hand back and looked at the vampire. "Are...are you...?"

That earned her an angered, yet scared look from Fangula. "NO! No, I'm not! Absolutely not!"

With a mischievous smile, Evelyn reached out and lightly wiggled her fingertips down his stomach, causing giggles to flow freely. "Hehehehehehehe! No, don't! Hehehehehehehe!"

Evelyn giggled hearing his giggle. It sounded so playful and friendly. "Not yet." she retorted. She snapped her fingers and a long, white feather was in her hand.

Fangula's bulged out in fear of that feather. Evelyn grinned when she ran the soft feather under his nose, making him sneeze. "Stop that!" Fangula said, shaking his head.

Evelyn chuckled and then teasingly stroked the feather all over his belly and smiled.

"Hehehehehehehe! S-Stop it! I mean it! Stahahahap!" Fangula shouted, trying to sound scary, but his uncontrollable giggles made it difficult.

Evelyn chuckled. "But you have a wonderful laugh, Mr. Vampire." Evelyn told him, she moved the feather to his belly button, twirling it around inside.

Fangula jerked violently and squirmed side to side to get the feathery object out of his belly button, his laughter escalating. "Ahahahahahahahaha! Stop, pleheeheeheeheease! I-I can't take it! Hahahahahahaha!"

"Tickle tickle tickle!" Evelyen teased, letting the thin feather glide over his ribs and move to his neck. He snorted and chuckled trying to move his neck around to trap the feather, but when Evelyn began feathering along his waist, he was sent into hysterics.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAP IT!" Fangula squealed, thrashing around harder. "OH, STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!"

Evelyn was having such fun, more than she had in a long time as she kept tickling. She stopped to let him catch his breath. "Just one more spot..." Evelyn cooed. She stroked the feather in his underarms, exploring every inch.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP! THAT TICKLES! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The count laughed so hard and tears rolled down his cheeks.

After a few more minutes of tickle torture, Evelyn withdrew the feather and watched her captive gasp for much needed air. "Are you alright?"

Fangula weakly lifted his head, finally catching his breath. "Why...why did you...?"

"I'm sorry that I got a little carried away." Evelyn admitted. "I just never thought a vampire would be ticklish."

The vampire looked down. "Neither did I." Never once did he thought he was ticklish, but then again, who in their right mind would tickle one of the most feared monsters in the world?

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." She smiled at him. "But something tells me you needed a good laugh."

She expected the vampire to snarl or snap at her, but to her surprise, he gave a nod. "You're right, I never laugh at home. I haven't laughed like that in...in fact, I don't think I've ever laughed like that before." He actually smiled, showing his sharp teeth. "What's your name, Witch?"

"I'm Evelyn." she introduced. "And you are?"

"Count Fangula. And may I say, I've never met a witch quite like you before."

Evelyn blushed a little. "Yes, thank you...perhaps you would be more comfortable out of those restraints." The witch examined the metal bonds carefully, "Imprrssive reinforcement spell, but not too complex."

Evelyn cracked her knuckles and aimed her glowing fists at the bonds. "Romulon Undonulus!" She unclenched her hands and the shackles shattered.

Fangula rubbed his wrists. He looked at Evelyn, in shock of her kindness. Then Evelyn took his hands and closed her eyes. Her hands glowed within his and they disappeared from the prison.

* * *

Evelyn's twinkling eyes was the first thing Fangula saw when they ended up in the dark forest, the same spot where they first met.

"Why are you doing this?" Fangula asked her, bewildered.

"Because, well..." Evelyn started. "I can tell your a good vampire and you don't deserve being enslaved by those evil witches."

"But aren't you a witch?"

"I am indeed a witch. But I'm a good witch, not a bad witch."

The count stared at her. "I didn't know witches can be good..."

Evelyn's smile dipped a little. "They can, or at least, only I can. All the other witches act as wicked as they want to be. But my mother taught me to use magic to help others and not evil deeds. Because of that, the other witches all treat me like I'm nothing."

"Who was your mother?" asked Fangula.

"She used to be the Grand witch before Abigail took her place when my mom passed away."

Fangula looked at her in a sympathetic manner. "I know what you are going through."

Evelyn looked back to him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"My father wants be to be a "true" vampire like him." he explained. "A dark and powerful count who rules over his family name with an iron fist so I'm fit to take over the Fangula legacy. But I don't care about any of that. I just want to live my afterlife my own way and not have my father weigh it all on me."

Evelyn jaw dropped. "Your father is just like mine..." she breathed.

"Just like yours?" Fangula repeated.

"Yes," Evelyn's voice started to shake. "My father wants me to marry this awful man named Nathaniel. But the unspeakable has happened to me..." She looked down at her stomach and put a hand to it, rubbing it. Her hand glowed green.

Fangula took a step back when he saw the witch's stomach grow until it was a huge belly! She was using a spell to hide her bulge.

Fangula's eyes widened. "You don't mean...?"

"Yes, I'm pregnant. But not on purpose..." Evelyn broke down in tears. "Before I came to Transylvania, I crossed paths with a wicked witch who cast a spell on me that made me pregnant. Nathaniel knew about this and that evil man will tell this to my mortal father unless I marry him."

Fangula's face cracked into pure anger. "HE CAN'T DO THAT!" he screamed. "That man, is without a doubt, the lowest, most awful man alive! I will suck all the blood from his body!"

Evelyn grabbed him by the shoulders. "No, Fangula! You can't kill him! If you do, then that will raise suspicion! I'm going to have to marry him! I have no choice! My secret of being a witch and my child have to stay safe!"

"But you can't marry that man!" Fangula retorted. "You need to flee this land and I'll help you! I won't rest in peace until you're safe!"

"Fangula..." Evelyn stared in awe, to which more tears fell from her eyes. "Thank you." She wrapped her arms around him, overwhelmed. "Thank you so much. You're so kind, so..."

She raised her head and looked up to him. "perfect."

Fangula looked at Evelyn so lovingly. As if they read each others' minds, the vampire and the witch leaned towards each other,

And kissed.

It felt like time stopped as their lips touched in the heat of passion. Their bodies filled with tremendous emotions. It was the happiest feeling of their lives.

Suddenly, Evelyn pulled away and yelped, she fell to her knees.

Fangula rushed to her aid. "What's wrong?!"

"It's coming..." Evelyn huffed. "The baby's coming!"

Panic-stricken, Fangula felt like it was his baby coming. "Oh, no! What do we do?! What do we do?!"

"Don't worry about me, I'll-"

Just then, out of the darkness, Nathaniel Nussbaum appeared with an angry mob of villagers carrying garlic, torches, and wooden stakes.

Nathaniel pointed an angry finger at Fangula. "There he is! The vampire has taken my fiancée!"

"Go on, Fangula!" Evelyn told him. "You have to get out of here!" With the key in her hand, Evelyn closed her eyes, muttered a spell, and vanished.

Fangula became a bat and flew away from the mob who chased after him.

* * *

Evelyn returned to her old home, the Hillhurst Mansion. She was in her chamber under the house. She was going to cast a spell that will safely deliver her baby.

But before she did, she turned to her desk and cast a spell on it. A piece of paper came out of the desk drawer and placed itself on the table. A quill pen dipped itself in ink and began writing a message on the paper.

"EVELYN HILLHURST!" a mighty voice boomed through the chamber.

Evelyn backed against the wall and saw someone enter the room in a cloud of dark smoke.

"The Grand Witch?!" Evelyn exclaimed.

The witch didn't respond. Instead, she fired her magic at Evelyn. She barely dodged as she waddled away in time. "Why are you doing this?!"

The witch only grinned at Evelyn's shock.

Knowing she can't fight back in her condition, Evelyn reached into her shirt, pulled out a silver key necklace with a piece of the Emerald of Enchantment in it. She held the key in one hand and placed her other hand on her stomach.

After muttering one last spell, the key glowed brightly within her grasp.

Abigail aimed her palms at Evelyn, and blasted her at full force.

When the dust cleared, Abigail walked up to Evelyn's dead body and moved her aside.

To the witch's astonishment, the key necklace was gone.


	19. Chapter 19: Friends

Back in Transylvania, the angry mob surrounded Creepinshire Castle.

Fangula's father watch from the highest tower. His wife, Ivory held her son's hands. They both felt the head vampire's hands touched theirs. "Go and hide, my family." he said. "I'll take care of this."

Ivory looked into his eyes and could sense the grief and uncertainty in them. "I love you." she said as she an her son morphed into bats and flew away.

Fangula looked back and saw the castle fill up with intruders. His sharp hearing picked up one last voice:

"Vampires! You all must be destroyed! So swears Nathaniel Nussbaum!"

* * *

The next evening after the attack on Creepinshire Castle, in a black painted courthouse, two hooded figures were carrying a wooden coffin into the courtroom. Vampires of all kind watched the coffin being brought up to the head vampire, Vlad the Impaler, standing at the podium.

The coffin door opened. It was Count Fangula, his body in chains.

"Count Fangula," Vlad announced. "the trouble you have caused is inexcusable."

All Fangula could do was hang his head in shame.

Vlad continued. "For commuting the most unholy action a vampire could do: befriending a witch, has caused the death of your own father. For this great act of treachery, you shall be chained and buried alive!"

"If I may, Sir," Fangula spoke out. "I would like to speak with my mother in private before my punishment."

Slightly surprised, Vlad nodded. "Very well."

In a private room, Ivory approached her imprisoned son. Her face full of tradegy. "Fangula, I'm so sorry this has happened..." She began to cry.

Fangula shook his head. "No, mother. I made the mistake of falling in love. But I really thought Evelyn and I had something special. She was an amazing woman. Even though I met her for a short time, I felt so...complete around her. Which is why I need you to do one last thing for me."

"What?"

"Erase my memory."

"Erase your memory?!" Ivory exclaimed. "No, my son! I can't do that!"

"Not my whole memory, just make me forget Evelyn. Because I know I'll never see her again. So I don't want to suffer with her in my memory. She does not deserve that."

Ivory chewed her lip, trying to hold back her tears, but she couldn't. "You've truly grown into a wonderful man, Fangula."

He smiled. "Thank you, Mother."

The vampiress wiped away her tears and looked at Fangula straight in the eye. Then her eyes glowed gold and gave a hypnotic suggestion. "Count Fangula, you will forget of your encounter with Evelyn. What happened was that vampire hunter, Nathaniel Nussbaum spotted you, and you led him to our castle. Now you are being punished for it."

She paused, then continued. "But remember, that not all witches are not as bad as you were told." Ivory smiled, proud of the young vampire. "Now enjoy a little nap, my son." Count Fangula closed his eyes, deep in sleep with

With her son's last request fulfilled, Ivory wiped another tear from her eye and kissed the vampire's cheek. She closed the lid of the coffin, but slowly so she can take one last look at her child.

When the coffin closed, Ivory smiled, proud of the vampire Fangula has become.

* * *

The hooded men carried out Fangula's coffin to a secluded cemetery deep in the woods. They buried him deep within the ground, never to be released again.

It wasn't long before Fangula awoke, all he could see was the darkness of his own prison. He decided to go back to sleep, and stay asleep. Forever.

**Scratch, scratch, scratch**

Fangula's eyes began to open when he heard a strange sound coming from outside. But he was underground, what could make a scratching sound under the ground?

The scratching continued until it came so close to Fangula's coffin, he felt vibrations from outside his prison.

Suddenly, the coffin door was ripped open! Fangula gasped when a hairy beast glared down at him. It was a werewolf.

Fangula felt afraid, he remembered his father saying that werewolves served the vampires. But he also remembered that untamed werewolves were wild and feral beasts who were just as bloodthirsty as vampires.

Fangula tried to get away, but his chains were too strong. The werewolf sniffed Fangula carefully, making him more nervous until the beast licked his face.

His cheek covered with saliva, Fangula looked at the werewolf, and it looked like that beast was...smiling? He licked his cheek again.

"Stop it." Fangula ordered.

But he didn't listen. The werewolf kept slobbering Fangula's face, eventually causing him to break out in giggles. "Hehehehehehehe! No! Stop! Bad dog! Stahahahap!" Fangula kept laughing.

"Hey, Wolfgang, what's going on?" a cranky voice said.

A mummy and a Franken-creature appeared over the large hole their friend dug up, and were shocked to him doggie kissing a chained vampire, jerking around as he laughed. "Hahahahahahaha! Help, please! MAKE HIM STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Fangula screamed to the monsters, hoping they would come to his rescue.

The mummy came down and pulled the wolf by his jacket collar. "Down, Wolfie! Down! Sit!" he snapped.

Wolfgang finally stopped, he panted excitedly. Fangula fell back, taking in deep breathes with a big grin on his face. The Frankenstein heaved the werewolf and mummy out with each of his hands. Then he plucked Fangula out of the ground and broke his chains off.

"You alright?" asked the mummy.

Fangula brushed himself off. "Yes, but, why did you free me?"

"Free you? We were just out for a walk until Wolfie sniffed something and took off!"

They all looked at the wolf, he just scratched himself and went up to Fangula and rubbed himself against his leg.

"He like you." said the Frankenstein.

The count scratched him behind his ears. "Good boy?" he said, a bit weary.

Wolfgang let out a happy bark and nuzzled himself into Fangula's cape. He smiled, "Yeah, I guess he does..." Fangula petted him on the head.

"You got a name?" the mummy asked.

"Fangula. Count Fangula."

"They call me Mums, that's Frankenbeans." The two monsters shook hands. "So, what's a count doing six feet under Earth?"

Fangula frowned. "Because it's where I belong." he said with sadness. "A vampire hunter caught up to me and killed my father. And for that I was punished by being buried alive."

Mums looked at him. "Wow, been there."

"Been there?" Fangula repeated.

"Yeah, I was mummified and entombed alive by a jealous high priest for kissing Cleopatra in pubic."

"That's awful!" said Fangula.

"Yeah, I would've expected a slap on the hand or something." Mums admitted. "Anyway, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm not sure...I can't return home, or see my mother. But I guess I could always write to her." Fangula said hopefully.

Then Wolfie's ears perked up, getting an idea. "Rararararara!"

"Come along with you?!" exclaimed Fangula.

"You understand him?!" Mums asked in disbelief.

"Yes, my father taught me how to speak wolf." Fangula told them. "So I can understand him like I would a person."

The werewolf jumped for joy and hugged the slightly startled vampire. "Rarararararararara!" he barked, happy to finally meet someone who can understand him.

"Well, Count. How'd you like to come along with along with us?" Mums suggested. "You can see Wolfgang here likes you and we could use a vampire in our little group."

Fangula was shocked, meeting a ragtag bunch of monsters he just met and asks him to join them?! It had to be some kind of joke! Then he looked down at Wolfgang, who whimpered and gave him the puppy dog eyes. "Well..." he began. "I could use a home."

"And some friends." Mums included.

Those words felt like warming up to an open fireplace on a cold winter for Fangula. He smiled, for the first time in a long time.

"Deal." He extended his gloved hand out and the mummy took it, shaking hands and cementing their friendship.


	20. Chapter 20: Battle Plan

Ivory finished telling everyone everything she knew. She didn't know very detail, just the parts she remembered and as much as she could conjure through her crystal ball.

"I can't believe it." Ashley finally said. "But what happened to Evelyn's baby?!"

"I think you should ask your mother, Ashley." Madame Ivory implied, turning towards Irene.

Ashley, including Fangula and their human friends, looked over at Irene, waiting for an answer.

The woman was silent. Finally, she sighed in defeat. "Yes. You see, Ashley, your father and I never divorced, we were just boyfriend and girlfriend until we broke up. But we never had planned on having a child. But one night, when I was sleeping, there was a huge bright light from outside and I heard crying. When I went outside to see what it was, there you were. A little and helpless baby on my front porch."

To say that Ashley was shocked would be an understatement, but it made a lot of sense. Britney said that Irene was not her mother, and it turns out she was right all along.

It all made sense now. Evelyn was the ghost woman and the key necklace Ashley had belonged to her. And Evelyn was Ashley's real mother.

Irene continued. "I really had no idea where you came from or who left you. I planned on giving you up for adoption, but in my heart, I just couldn't let you go and I decided to take you in as my daughter."

The poor girl didn't know what to say until Nano folded her arms and said, "Well, guess Ashley isn't the only one who's been lying."

Those words cut Irene's core. "I was going to tell her one day!"

"IT'S BEEN 22 YEARS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD ME!"

Everyone jumped when they heard the roaring voice of Ashley, who was standing up, staring down at her false mother with an angered expression. "You have no right to tell anyone what's right anymore!" Ashley shouted. "You've been lying to me longer than I've been lying to you! Some parent you are! Evelyn sacrified herself to save me even if I was cursed to be inside her! Don't you ever speak to me again!"

"Ashley..." whispered Fangula.

Irene tried to speak, but the impact of the girl's words clotted her throat.

Ashley turned to the vampiress. "Madame Ivory, you have to help us! How do we stop that evil vampire?!"

People in the room were surprised Ashley changed the subject so fast, but Ashley wanted to forget her false mother quickly and move on. "Well?!" she shouted.

"First of all, her name is Rizelda." Fangula said. "And second, it's close to impossible to stop her when Charterville's entire population are now werewolves under her command!"

"And Britney has become a witch too!" Dawn included.

"Excatly." Ivory told them. "But there a way to stop her werewolves. All of the werewolves in town were turned because the main werewolf created one, then created a whole army. You'll need to destroy the head werewolf in order to cure the whole city."

"You mean that black werewolf?" Fangula whimpered.

"That's right, and to accomplish that, he will assist you." Ivory gestured to the hallway and everybody heard footsteps, when they saw who walked in,

"Wolfie!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Rararara!" Wolfie barked, smiling at the two.

"I can't believe your here! And alright, too!" Fangula said as he rushed up to meet his best friend. Ashley ran over and gave the wolf a big hug, happy to see him.

"Wow, a werewolf!" Dawn said surprised, but smiling. "Awesome!"

Wolfie looked up and saw the four humans, he let out a growl before Ashley spoke to him, "It's okay, Wolfie. They're my friends, they know about us."

Still wary, the wolf went up to Dawn and sniffed her, Hillary was about to say something until she heard Dawn giggle. She saw the werewolf licking Dawn's face with affectionate kisses.

"Wolfie really likes it when you scratch his tummy." Fangula mentioned.

Dawn giggled in excitement. "Then that's just what I'm gonna do!" She reached down and stratched his stomach. The wolf laid down and let the human scratch away, his leg went crazy. Hillary and Heather walked over and scratched and petted the wolf's head, making him even happier.

Ashley smiled seeing the humans playing with Wolfie, and not even flinching or being afraid of him. "So, let's get this straight; We have to kill the black werewolf, stop Britney, and all's right with the world? Sounds easy enough."

Fangula shook his head. "No, it's never that easy."

"Good point." the witch said. "Not to mention that other vampire and Britney who somehow became a witch!"

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Heather asked.

"Anything at all?"

But Ashley shook her head. "No, it's too dangerous for you guys. You stay here with the Madame. Fangula, Wolfie, and I will stop them."

"But what about Flabber?" Fangula said. "And Mums, Little Ghoul and Frankenbeans?"

"They've been captured along with your double, Ashley." said Madame Ivory.

"What?!" Ashley and Fangula exclaimed.

"That's what I was going to tell you, when Abigail killed Evelyn, the other witches fought against her and she was defeated and her spirit was sealed away in the Witches Glass. But Rizelda somehow gained the Witches Glass that imprisoned Abigail Willaims' spirit and this Britney child became possessed by her and kidnapped your friends!"

Ashley felt horrible guilt right now. "Then that means...I did this..." she said. "This is all my fault..."

She felt Fangula's hands on her shoulders. "But that's all in the past." he said. "Right now, we have to fix our mistakes and save our friends! So let's get a move on!"

Ashley nodded and kissed her wonderful boyfriend. "Alright, guys! Let's go save Charterville!"

* * *

Everyone headed outside the castle. Ashley put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. The black van transformed back into Ashley's trusty broomstick. The witch looked over and saw Wolfgang talking to Fangula.

"Hey, come on you guys!" she called out. "Let's get going!"

After a few seconds, the two monsters went up to Ashley. "Wish us luck, you guys."

Dawn smiled proudly at her best witch friend. "Go get 'em, Ash."

"We'll be rooting for you." Hillary added.

"Go knock 'em dead, kids!" Nano cheered.

"Good luck, my son." Madame Ivory said to her beloved count.

Seeing those two together, Ashley felt a little sad that her fake mother wasn't out here. Irene was still in the castle. But Ashley had to focus on the mission: Stop Rizelda and her monstrous underlings.

The redhead witch was the first to hop on the broom. Wolfie hopped on behind her and Fangula morphed into his bat form. Clutching tightly onto Broomy, Ashley did a little jump and launched her self off the ground.

The trio flew off, anticipating the upcoming battle.


	21. Chapter 21: Behind The Fangs And Fur

In Charterville cemetery, deep within its catacombs, Rizelda was admiring her prisoners. Mums, Frankenbeans, and Little Ghoul were cuffed to the wall by the possessed Britney's magic infused restraints.

Frankenbeans grunted and growled as he tried to break the cuffs, but even his strength wasn't enough.

"YOU PUNKS!" Little Ghoul shrieked. "YOU'RE JUST LUCKY I'M UP HERE!"

"They heard you the first 12 times..." Mums grumbled. "NOW QUIT SHOUTING IN MY EAR!"

"YOU STOP SHOUTING IN MY EAR!" shouted back Little Ghoul.

"ENOUGH!" Rizelda screamed the loudest, the bickering monsters hushed immediately. "Bring her to me!"

The vampire in the black trench coat and the black werewolf approached their master carrying Ashley's seemingly lifeless body and dropped it on the ground. "She hardly put up a fight, Master." the vampire said.

"It matters not, now that the witchet is ours." Rizelda said, she reached for Ashley, but a stream of black magic held her hand back.

Shocked, Rizelda looked and saw the Britney Chambers, possessed by Abigail Williams, was holding her back. "We had a deal, vampire." she said. "I get the emerald, then the witch is yours."

With a scowl and a huff, the evil vampiress backed away and Abigail reached down and snapped the key off Ashley's neck. "The power of the Emerald of Enchantment is mine!"

"With my compliments." said a new voice.

Abigail and Rizelda gasped when they saw the real Ashley, along with Count Fangula and Wolfgang. Abigail looked at the key and saw the stone was now black and dull like a piece of coal. The unconscious Ashley's body glowed green and disappeared. Her magic energy flew back to Ashley's actual necklace.

"That wasn't the witchet!" roared Abigail. "That was a double!"

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock!" Ashley exclaimed as she blasted magic at Abigail, she screamed when she was sent flying and into the underground wall.

Fangula charged at Rizelda, but the rogue vampire blocked his path. But Fangula was hardly scared. In fact, he wasn't even fazed.

The vampire was first to throw the punch, but Fangula dodged it with ease. The two vampires began their tussle.

And Fangula wasn't the only one, Wolfgang was up against the black werewolf. But Wolfgang was not afraid of him anymore. Wolfgang barked a threat at him, enraging the beast. He roared, charging at Wolfie but he dodged in time.

As the monsters brawled, the two witches battled it out, blasting magic left and right. "Surrender the key to me! You're out of your league, witchet! Even with the emerald, you won't be able to stop me!" Abigail said, blasting another shot of magic.

But Ashley swiftly dodged it. "Oh, yeah? Then why do you even want my necklace?"

Abigail seized her fire and glared at the redhead. "You have no idea what you truly possess do you?" she told her. "That is the actual and only remaining piece of the Emerald of Enchantment. It is a sacred stone as old as time itself. It is the one, true object through which all magic flows and it's definitely not the property of some rookie witch who found it!"

She unleashed another blast of magic, but Ashley formed a wall of magic to shield herself.

"I don't see how any of that makes me want to surrender my necklace," Ashley said. "you're just wasting your breath!" She pushed the wall back and shoved Abigail hard, knocking her down.

Rizelda watched Fangula fighting against her servant. The slave threw his arms back and unleashed a flock of bats towards Fangula, but the count lifted his cape and turned them into bat wings. He gave them a mighty flap and blew the bats away.

"It's amazing how you've grown, Fangula." Rizelda said, getting the count's attention. "The taste of that witch's blood has really improved you, hasn't it?"

"Maybe, but Ashley's love is what really keeps me strong in this world." Fangula replied in bitterness. "Being married to you makes me want to kill myself!"

Rizelda snarled and gave the count a death glare. "The feeling's mutual! I never loved you! I loved your money! I was hoping that Nussbaum finished you years ago and the Fangula fortune would become mine! But he nailed the wrong bat!" She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. "Sick him!"

The vampire jumped high, about to throw a hard kick until Fangula grabbed his ankle, spun him around a few times and threw him hard into Rizelda.

"You have no idea how good that felt!" Fangula shouted to his ex-wife.

Back with Ashley, she aimed her palms at Abigail and was about to end this. But Abigail got up and mumbled a wicked spell. SHe raised her hands straight towards the ceiling. Silver and gold sparks up in the air and hit the ceiling. It rained down upon and around Ashley. Just looking at it made her dizzy. And sleepy.

Ashley tried not to look at it, but she couldn't held herself. Abigail's magic sparkled like jewels, the sparks hypnotized her. Her eyelids got heavy, they drooped, almost closed. SHe shook her head, too heavy to hold up.

"Ashley! No!" Fangula shouted, his voice sounded as if it came from really far away. "Wake up! Don't let her get the key!"

But Ashley was already down on her knees.

Smirking, Abigail approached the weakened witch and reached for the necklace.

_'No...no...no...'_ Ashley thought in herself. Everything seemed to be in slow motion.

And then, in those very last seconds, a sudden rush raced through Ashley. Everything she has experienced hit her like an oncoming car. Arriving at Hillhurst, meeting her monster friends, saving Hillhurst, going to Halloween Hollow, her first kiss with Fangula.

The image of that first, loving kiss forced Ashley to snap her eyes open. "NO!" she screamed. Her necklace flashed a powerful green glow. Abigail was forced to retreat. Ashley got up to her feet.

All the monsters stopped fighting and watched in awe. The green glow bathed Ashley's entire body. Her eyes glowed the brightest like they two green suns. Her body floated off the ground as she kept glowing brighter until it was too bright to see.

When the light finally faded away, everyone opened their eyes and gasped. In front of Ashley's feet was her key necklace and tiny flickering shards of a broken Emerald. The flickering died out, the shards were now powerless.

But that wasn't what they were staring at, hovering before Ashley was a filmy figure in a long white gown with flowing long hair. The air around them suddenly grew cold.

The monsters all watched in amazement, but Abigail's face was twisted with horror. "Evelyn!"

The ghostly woman was indeed Evelyn. Without warning, she raised both hands in front of her and flew straight at Abigail, who was too stunned to move. Evelyn launched herself through Britney's body, pushing Abigail's spirit right out of the human's body. Britney's body flopped on the ground like a rag doll.

Now there were two ghosts, Evelyn, and Abigail Williams in Evelyn's clutches. Ashley watched the two spirits rise into the air. Evelyn's foggy eyes glaring at Abigail, the ghosts floated silently up and they vanished into the darkness.

Wolfgang made his move, with the wolf distracted, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. The black wolf's ears perked up and turned around.

But it was too late, Wolfie fired a shot right at the wolf's chest. When the wolf looked down to see his wound, he realized there was no wound.

In fact he wasn't hit by a silver bullet, he was hit with a silver dart!

"GRRRRAAAAOOOOOWWWWW!" The wolf howled in anguish as he felt the silver's properties infect his entire body. He shivered as he fell down, hugging himself as he felt his body burning up inside.

"NOOOOOOO! My werewolf!" Rizelda screamed. She turned to Ashley. "This is all your fau-"

Suddenly, she a jolt of pain from behind. The pain continued until it went all the way through her chest.

Ashley's eyes went wide and covered her mouth, the other monsters were in too much shock to speak.

Rizelda's enlarged eyes looked down. She saw the tip of a wooden stake just barely sticking out of her chest. Her crimson blood was dripping from its tip. Rizelda's eyes couldn't be any wider as she screamed in both fear and pain. She started to fall towards the ground, her death as finally come.

When she fell, the one who slayed her was revealed to be none other than Count Fangula himself. He scowled at Rizelda's dead body. "And that was for Evelyn!"

Just then, the trench-coated vampire cried out. He clutched his head as he was on his knees now. As Ashley watched the two evil monsters suffer, it was then that something incredible happened.

The vampire's skin slowly changed from pale to healthy and peachy. His black hair faded into a golden blonde.

The werewolf's large canine body shrunk down and became more human like, his coal black fur fell off his body, shedding quickly. It wasn't until his fangs and claws were gone and all the hair fell off his body that Wolfgang's face went to shock, then his smile grew wide and wider.

"RORAND!" Wolfie howled as he ran up and tackled the young man and slobbered him with dog kisses.

"Ew! Yuck! Wolfgang! Get off! What's going on here?! Wolfgang!" Roland demanded, but the werewolf didn't stop his happy kisses.

The vampire now human looked up with bright blue eyes, "Huh? What happened?" He looked to Fangula, who was in great shock and amaze. "Fangula? What's going on here?"

"DREW! IT'S YOU!" Fangula shouted. He ran up and gave the startled human a big bear hug.

Seeing their human friends again caused Frankenbeans to find the strength to break off his shackles. He snapped off Mums' and Little Ghoul's restraints and the overjoyed monsters ran up to hug the humans, further disturbing them.

Ashley just stood there, shocked beyond belief. All this time Drew was the vampire and Roland was the werewolf? So many questions and so many things rushed through her mind.

Then suddenly, a large stone fell from the ceiling and fell right on Ashley's head. She yelped in pain, getting everybody's attention. Her vision got blurry as she fell over.

"Ashley! Ashley!" Fangula heard her boyfriend's voice, but it was drowned out as Ashley's head pounded, loosing her consciousness.


End file.
